Rodwayella sessilis

On plant debris such as small decaying twigs on the ground (in this study on a small stem of Laurus nobilis), with sessile apothecia shaped like slightly flattened grains, 0.4 to 1 mm in diameter, orange when fresh, pale brown to brownish when dry, sprouting scattered but abundantly across the affected surface.

My thanks to Antonio Couceiro (Necho) for providing the material for study.

Asci cylindrical-clavate, eight-spored, 90 to 100 µm long, 11 to 15 µm wide, with irregularly biseriate spore arrangement within the ascus, with basal croziers and an amyloid apical reaction in IKI or Melzer's reagent.

Paraphyses filiform, hyaline, 1.5 to 2 µm wide, slightly curved at the apex, extending little or not at all above the asci.

Ascospores ellipsoidal to slightly fusiform, with one end somewhat more pointed, smooth, hyaline, thin-walled, 12 to 15 µm long, 4.5 to 6 µm wide, with a central septum and containing oil droplets inside.

Herbarium material available: JTP2054/24.