Mucilago crustacea

Fruiting bodies forming large aethalia, yellowish becoming white with maturity, on various plant debris with a preference for living grass stems, up to 7 cm long and 1–2 cm thick, with a black interior due to the dense spore mass, enclosed in a white, calcareous cortex.

Cortex thick, densely charged with calcium oxalate crystals.

Capillitium composed of branched and anastomosing filaments, light brown under the microscope, forming a dense network.

Spores globose, thick-walled and verrucose, violaceous-brown under the microscope, 9.5–11 µm in diameter, with pointed warts or spines up to 1 µm high.

The genus Mucilago is monotypic, but based on capillitial morphology and spore dimensions, the collection studied here corresponds to Mucilago crustacea var. solida, having spores slightly smaller than the typical variety (10–14 µm) and a less pigmented capillitium.

Herbarium material available: 2206/24.