this is great!! I once saw Discinella schimperi when I was in Lapland, thanks to Marie Davey from Finland, who said that it exclusively grows on Sphagnum squarrosum. I made the atached spore photos which show these striking refractive vacuoles in the living spores which I can also see in your pics in water.

What is not the case in your specimen: the asci always contained 4 large and 4 smaller spores:

"Always 4 large spores with VBs and 4 smaller spores without VBs in each living ascus. Large sp. *16-19 x 5.3-5.7 µm, fusoid, containing very elongate 1-2refractive large VBs, const. 2 per spores."

so maybe we have different species?

Zotto

there are no close species described (?) - as i could see from Redhead's paper and IF - i checked Discinella spp., but it is difficult to check all Helotium spp. Yet i am not imformed at all in this group, since it is difficult to do conclutions. Do you think it may worth to describe sp. nov.? There are about 10 apos in the collection, i could microscopy once more to get clear picture (if you want, point to the features which should be checked more precisely). All previous micro pictures are there: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bog-fun/sets/72157631521757540/?

Would be nice to know whether such a cell is present in magellanicum and whether the species is behaving as in S. squarrosum.

Apothecia attaches to upper part of leaves (phyllida) by the weft of cylindrical hyphae.  Hyphae radiate from stipe base, several go down to reach the base of the leaf. Other hyphae spread in leaf tissue, they seen inside cells, along and penetrating green (chlorophyllous) cells, often in places of cell contacts.

I was not able to trace all way hyphae does from leaf tip to it's base and further down to base of branch (where mentioned mucilaginous cells are placed). Separately, i looked these cells in capitula. Hyphae were spread there abundantly as well. Part of them were inside cells. Others were free, in bundles (2-3), ending with higly branched entangled agglomerages. Some of these were seen branching close to muciaginous cells. Mucilagenous cells with such agglomerages outside also were seen, as well as single hyphae attached as cap to it's tip and penetrationg inside.

There was only one capitula which i was studying (unfortunatelly i separated branches with apothecia right after collection, being not informed that other parts may be important). Mounts were not very clear.

But it seems close to what was described on S. squarrosum after such short examination. How to interpret all this... i don't know.

But now i opened a book on Sphagnum biology and see, these balls must be antheridia actually. Antheridia "nestled among the leaves near the tips of the capitulum branches". So, it is antheridia infected, probably.

What is mucilaginous cells, then? - haven't found anywhere in books about sphagnum. There is a citation in Bryophyte biology (2009): "Juvenile leaves hide delicate filaments that line the insertion of the leaf. These hairs originate from the leaf initial and secrete a mucilage of polysaccharides that may be essential in preventing the delicate growing apices from dehydrating".

I have not understand the description by Nawaschin yet, since it is in German and Google translation worked quite littered. May be, there will be more clarity.

Voici également une récolte sur Spaghnum (pâturage boisé à 1'000m), apothécies 0.3 - 0.7 mm de diamètre, blanchâtres/roses, stipitées, Ascospores 4 - 5.25 µm, hyalines, non septées, lisses. Asques 93 - 105 x 10 - 13 µm, avec crochet, J+, contenant 8 spores (moins avec l'âge). Paraphyses droites, hyalines.

Elisabeth