Bonjour tous

This post also links to http://www.ascofrance.com/search_forum/4310 and http://www.ascofrance.com/search_forum/5182

This rarely-reported Saccobolus has turned up in England - first found by Nick Aplin in October 2017 in East Sussex. I have recently collected it in West Yorkshire, 300 kilometres to the NW.

As can be seen from the composite image the spores have scattered ornamentation, pale for Saccobolus. In the first collection the spores barely became "free" - an important character in S. eleutherosporus. So a week ago I collected more from the same site (last four images). In what is clearly the same fungus the spores had paler pigmentation than the previous collection and showed all stages from spores "in formation" to totally dissociated ones (the latter very obvious when discharged from the ascus). Indeed it seemed as though the heavier and darker the pigmentation the stronger the attachment of the spore-cluster. In all apothecia I examined there was yellow pigmentation in the paraphyses and often in the ectal excipulum - see image.

See also http://fungi.myspecies.info/all-fungi/saccobolus-eleutherosporus for the UK finds.

I do not think that either Nicolas' or Enrique's collections are S. eleutherosporus. I am puzzled by the apparent rarity of this fungus - there seem to be fewer than 10 authentic collections. Perhaps other AF members know of more than the ones already mentioned (something like 2 each from France, Belgium, Austria & UK).

Cordialement

Chris