Ionopezia gerardii

A cup-shaped to flattened disc-like ascomycete, reaching just over 1.5 cm across, violaceous with brittle flesh.

Medullary and ectal excipulum hyphae of textura globulosa-angularis, thick-walled, up to 40 µm in diameter.

Asci cylindrical, 8-spored, operculate, uniseriate with spores slightly overlapping laterally, 200-250 µm long and 15-18 µm wide, with all spores in the upper part of the ascus, simple-based (croziers absent), with amyloid ascus walls in Melzer's reagent.

Paraphyses filiform, smooth, hyaline, septate, 2-3 µm wide, slightly widened at the apex up to 4 µm wide, projecting slightly above the asci.

Ascospores fusiform with pointed ends, smooth, hyaline, thin-walled, containing one or two large oil guttules accompanied by smaller droplets inside, inamyloid in Melzer's reagent.

Herbarium material available: JTP2568/25.