Hello Everyone,

I have found a brownish operculate discomycete growing on rabbit dung.

I have had a look at previous postings on Ascofrance and think that either Ascobolus brassicae or Pseudombrophila bulbifera are the likely options. There is, however, a distinctive characteristic of my collection which I can not find in the literature - mature spores become brown in lugol.

An image of the fruit bodies is attached, along with a drawing of the microscopy. I have looked at two apothecia and the second had distinctly purple warts on the spores, whereas in the first sample the warts did not look purple. All other characteristics were the same in the two samples. Purple colouration is, of course, more likely in Ascobolus. 

Pseudombrophila dentata seems to be ruled out by spore diameter.

I would be grateful for confirmation of one of these, or alternative suggestions for my sample.

Thank you,
Peter Thompson.