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| The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing asci and ascospores; usually cupulate (without hairs); stipitate; tiny to small; in Rutstroemeria firma, about 0.5–1.5 cm across; not brightly pigmented; buff to dark brown, or olive (mostly brown, Rutstroemia firma brown to greenish); apothecial; stromata present. Asci inoperculate; the asci thin walled. The walls of the asci usually with a J+ apical ring. The ascospores ellipsoid; smooth; pale brown, or hyaline; usually simple.
The hyphae without clamp connections. The hyphal walls lamellate, double layered, with both layers electron dense.
Ecology. Saprophytic (mostly on plant parts, especially on seeds and fruits, but Rutstroemia firma occurs commonly on dead oak branches). The fruit-bodies on dead wood.
Representation in Britain and Ireland. Lambertella, Lanzia, Poculum, Rutstroemia, Scleromitrula, Verpatinia.
World representation. 100 species; genera 3. Cosmopolitan.
Classification. Ascomycota; Ascomycetes; Leotiomycetidae; Helotiales.
Comments. 'Inoperculate Discomycetes’; stromata present, of indeterminate substratal tissue permeated by undifferentiated, thin-walled hyphae, sometimes with a black rind; interascal tissue of simple paraphyses.
Illustrations. • Rutstroemia firma (Price). RUTSTROEMIACEAE. 64, Rutstroemia firma P. Karst. From Price (1864).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2008 onwards. The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
