Poronia punctata

A coprophilous fungus characteristic of horse and pony dung, with disc-shaped stromata 0.5 to 1.5 cm in diameter, greyish-white, dotted with small black spots corresponding to the ostioles through which ascospores are discharged, and with a long, blackish stipe deeply embedded in the dung.

Exoperidial hyphae filamentous, densely interwoven, thick-walled, 3 to 4 µm wide, containing abundant brown intracellular pigment.

Endoperidial hyphae (inner layer) composed of tightly packed polygonal cells 4 to 7 µm across.

Asci cylindrical, 8-spored, unitunicate, short-stalked, 130 to 180 µm long, 12 to 18 µm wide, uniseriate, with an intensely amyloid apical apparatus in Melzer's reagent.

Paraphyses cylindrical, hyaline, septate, without apical swellings, 3 to 5 µm wide, distinctly exceeding the height of the asci.

Ascospores ellipsoidal to slightly fusiform, smooth-walled, dark brown under the microscope, 19 to 24 µm long, 9 to 11.5 µm wide, with a longitudinal germ slit that is difficult to observe under the light microscope.