Hymenoscyphus fagineus

A small Hymenoscyphus growing associated with fruits (cupules/mast) or dead wood of European beech (Fagus sylvatica).

Apothecia in the studied collection barely exceeded 1 mm in diameter, disc-shaped, and pure white.

It represents an infrequently recorded species that is likely overlooked rather than genuinely rare, due to its minute stature and growth on beech cupules buried in leaf litter.

The initial find of this elusive species was made in late May on an old beech mast cupule inside a hollow beech stump. Days later, additional specimens were observed at the same location, growing directly on dead beech wood, in a calcareous beech forest in Amurrio (Álava).