British fungi - Keys
Key to Peziza - an updated key from Brian Spooner (published in the Forayer); comments appreciated and, especially, collections which do not fall withing the limits of characters given in the key
by Brian Spooner
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1 | Spores smooth or finely longitudinally striate under light microscope; guttules usually absent, rarely present | 2 |
| Spores ornamented with fine (oil immersion!) to coarse warts or reticulum under light microscope; guttules usually present, rarely absent | 24 |
2(1) | In sand dunes, apothecia hypogeous in development, long pseudostipe present (spores 15–17 × 9–10 µm) | |
| In other habitats; not hypogeous in development; pseudostipe lacking | 3 |
3(2) | Ascospores fusoid, mostly over 30 µm long, finely longitudinally striate, with guttules; apothecia on soil, disc violaceous, c. 1 cm across | |
| Ascospores ellipsoid, shorter than 30 µm, not striate; habitat, size and colour of disc various | 4 |
4(3) | Apothecia on dung or manured soil | 5 |
| Apothecia in other habitats | 6 |
5(4) | Apothecia 5–10 cm across, thick-fleshed, margin long incurved; gregarious, often densely so; hymenium commonly separating and becoming vesiculose with age; spores mostly 21–24 µm long, 11–14 µm wide; on manured soil | |
| Apothecia smaller, 1–2 cm across, on horse or cow dung; spores 18–21 × 10–11 µm | |
6(4) | On rotting vegetation; disc pinkish-brown (c. 1.5 cm diam.); spores eguttulate, 16–20 × 8–10 µm | |
| On various substrates; disc brown, yellowish or violaceous; spores eguttulate or rarely guttulate, larger or smaller than above | 7 |
7(6) | Paraphyses moniliform or with lobed and inflated segments | 8 |
| Paraphyses simple, lacking inflated or lobed segments | 10 |
8(7) | Paraphyses with distinctly lobed segments; disc yellow-brown; apothecia on wet ground in spring (spores 16–18 × 9.5–11µm) | |
| Paraphyses moniliform, lacking lobed segments; disc reddish-brown or fawn to greyish-brown; habitat various | 9 |
9(8) | Spores 14–16 × 8–10 µm; disc fawn to greyish-brown; on sawdust, soil, old plaster or sand (apothecia to 5 cm across) | |
| Spores 19–22 × 10–11.5 µm; disc reddish- brown; on wet ground in spring (apothecia 1–2.5 cm across) | |
10(7) | Spore length mostly in range 13–17 µm | 11 |
| Spore length mostly in range 18–24 µm | 14 |
11(10) | Apothecia violaceous, on burnt ground (1–3 cm across); spores 13–15 × 7.5–8 µm | |
| Apothecia not violaceous, on other substrata or occasionally on burnt ground, variable in size; spores 14–17 × 8–10 µm | 12 |
12(11) | On rotten wood; short stipe often present; middle layer of interwoven hyphae usually well developed; short stipe often present (spores 15–17 × 8.5–9.5 µm) | |
| On soil, rotten textiles, plaster, brickwork, mortar or on burnt ground; middle layer of interwoven hyphae thin; short stipe present or not | 13 |
13(12) | On plaster, brickwork, mortar etc.; disc pale, yellowish to cream; short stipe sometimes present (spores 14–16 × 8–9 µm) | |
| On soil, rotten textiles or burnt ground; disc fawn-brown; short stipe lacking (spores 15–16 × 8–9.5 µm) | |
14(10) | Apothecia brown to yellowish, on wood, wood-chips, sawdust, garden mulch or soil, rarely on burnt ground | 15 |
| Apothecia dark brown to blackish brown or purple to red-brown or violaceous, on rotten wood or bark, soil or burnt ground | 21 |
15(14) | Apothecia yellowish, on wood chips, compost or mulch; spores narrowly ellipsoid, mostly 8–9.5 µm diam. (18–21 µm long), ends slightly tapered | |
| Apothecia fawn or darker, on wood or wood chips, or on soil; spores ellipsoid, mostly 10–13 µm diam. | 16 |
16(15) | Apothecia stipitate, up to 7 cm diam., margin often coarsely granular/pustular; apical cell of paraphyses with distinct yellowish guttules, penultimate cell often somewhat inflated; flesh not distinctly stratified, containing large, thin-walled cells to c. 250 µm diam.; on wood- chip mulch in hothouse (spores 20–23 × 10–13 µm) | |
| Apothecia sessile, 1–5 cm diam., margin not or only finely granular; paraphyses lacking guttules, apical cells sometimes swollen or lobed; flesh stratified or not, lacking such large cells; on rotten wood, sawdust or soil | 17 |
17(16) | On rotten wood or sawdust, rarely on burnt ground; yellow-brown, flesh rather thick and virtually unstratified | 18 |
| On soil; fawn-brown to red-brown, flesh usually distinctly stratified | 19 |
18(17) | Spores 22–25 × 11–12 (13) µm; paraphyses apically irregularly swollen, curved and sometimes lobed; on rotten wood | |
| Spores (17–) 18–21.5 × 9.5–11 (–12) µm; paraphyses not apically so modified; rarely on burnt ground | |
19(17) | Spores 11–13 µm diam. (19–22.5 µm long); apothecia small, scarcely over 1 cm across | |
| Spores 9–11 (–12) µm diam.; apothecia various in size | 20 |
20(19) | Apothecia cupulate, larger, up to 7 cm across, surface finely scurfy towards the margin (spores 19–22 µm long) | |
| Apothecia saucer-shaped, smaller, c. 0.5–3 cm across, surface distinctly granular, margin often with small, irregular teeth (spores (17–) 18–21 µm long) | |
21(14) | Apothecia < 1 cm diam., purple-brown; receptacle distinctly warted-granular, margin slightly denticulate; whitish basal anchoring hyphae present; on bark in wet places (spores 19–22 × 11–12.5 µm) | |
| Apothecia 1–6 cm diam., dark brown to blackish-brown or violaceous; receptacle scurfy or pustular only at the margin; whitish anchoring hyphae lacking; on damp soil or burnt ground | 22 |
22(21) | Apothecia violaceous, to c. 6 cm diam., basally thick-fleshed; spores guttulate, 19–23 µm long (10–11.5 µm wide) | |
| Apothecia dark brown to blackish-brown, to c. 2 cm diam., thin-fleshed; spores eguttulate, 17–20 µm long | 23 |
23(22) | Spores 11–13 µm wide; paraphyses sparsely septate, unbranched above | |
| Spores 10–11 µm wide; paraphyses closely septate and often forked above | |
24(1) | Ascospores with distinct polar apiculae | 25 |
| Ascospores lacking polar apiculae, but sometimes with warts more prominent at the poles | 26 |
25(24) | Spores 18–24 µm long; apiculae conical or finger-like; ornament of discrete warts 0.5–1.5 µm across | |
| Spores 16–19 µm long; apiculae broad, obtuse; ornament fine, punctate | |
26(24) | Disc blue, or blue with purple tints; spores 15–17 × 7–8 (–9) µm, with very fine punctate ornament; paraphyses straight, with deep purple-brown pigment at apex and scattered over whole length | |
| Disc not blue; spore size and ornamentation various; paraphyses with or without pigment | 27 |
27(26) | Ascospore ornament a complete or broken reticulum | 28 |
| Ascospore ornament of warts or ridges, not forming a reticulate pattern | 30 |
28(27) | Ascospores 16–20 µm long (8–10 µm wide); ornament a broken reticulum of forked and anastomosing ridges; disc olivaceous when fresh; apothecia to 10 cm across, on damp soil or burnt ground | |
| Ascospores 12–16 µm long; ornament complete or not, irregular; disc brown or green, apothecia 0.5–2 cm across, on soil or litter | 29 |
29(28) | Ascospores 12–14.5 × 6.5–8.5 µm; ornament an irregular network of blunt ridges; disc brown; apothecia on steam-sterilised soil | |
| Ascospores 14–16 × 8–10 µm; ornament a fine, low irregular reticulum; disc green; apothecia soil or litter in hothouses (needs confirmation) | |
30(27) | Apothecia on burnt substrates or plaster, less often on sand/mortar/brickwork, or on dunes | 31 |
| Apothecia on other substrates, soil, rotten wood & litter, or dung | 39 |
31(30) | On dunes or sandy soil; apothecia [2–6 (–10) cm across] purple or purple-brown, mostly with pseudostipe; spores [16–19 × 7–9 µm] with irregular warts to c. 1 µm wide, often slightly more pronounced at the poles; paraphyses apically clavate or sub-capitate, 5–8 µm wide | |
| On burnt ground, plaster, mortar or brickwork; apothecia brown to fawn, mostly lacking pseudostipe; spores more finely ornamented; paraphyses apically narrowly clavate | 32 |
32(31) | Ascospores 15.5–18 µm long, lacking regular, distinct guttules; finely ornamented | 33 |
| Ascospores mostly 10.5–14 µm long, guttulate or not; finely or coarsely ornamented | 34 |
33(32) | Disc dark brown; ascospores with warts often vertically elongated at the poles; apothecia 2–8 cm across | |
| Disc yellow-brown; ascospores with warts not elongated at the poles; apothecia 5–12 cm across | |
34(32) | Ascospores with very fine, regular, isolated warts; apothecia violaceous or wine red | 35 |
| Ascospores coarsely ornamented or with fine, irregular often elongated markings; apothecia brown, whitish or greyish lilac | 36 |
35(34) | Apothecia on burnt substrates, violaceous; paraphyses mostly bent or hooked and irregularly thickened at the apex, and with dark brownish pigment (spores 11.5–13.5 × 6.5–7 µm) | |
| Apothecia on plaster, wine red; paraphyses not markedly apically hooked or pigmented (spores 11–12.5 × 6–6.5 µm) | |
36(34) | Ascospores narrowly ellipsoid, (10–) 11–13 × 5.5–6.5 µm, with irregular ornament; apothecia to 10 cm diam., greyish-lilac, receptacle paler | |
| Ascospores broadly ellipsoid, 10.5–14 × 6–9 µm, coarsely ornamented; apothecia brown or whitish, 2–3 cm diam. or sparassoid | 37 |
37(36) | Ascospores ornamented with prominent, wing-like or pyramidal ridges and spines; apothecia dark brown, on burnt calcareous soil | |
| Ascospores ornamented with isolated warts; apothecia whitish or with ochraceous to pinkish tints, on various burnt soils | 38 |
38(37) | Apothecia simple, cupulate | |
| Apothecia large, sparassoid | |
39(30) | Ascospores with very fine punctate ornament (oil immersion lens); apothecia on soil, dung or rotten wood | 40 |
| Ascospore ornament distinct, of isolated or sometimes confluent warts or short ridges; apothecia on soil, compost or rotten wood | 43 |
40(39) | On soil or rotten wood; apothecia lilac or violaceous to purple-brown; spores obscurely to distinctly guttulate; paraphyses with granular, brownish pigment | 41 |
| On dung; apothecia pale brown; spores eguttulate; paraphyses pigmented or not | 42 |
41(40) | On rotten wood; apothecia 2–5 cm diam., with dark violaceous or purplish-brown hymenium; spores obscurely guttulate or 1-guttulate (14–17 × 8–8.5 µm) | |
| On soil; apothecia 1.5–2.5 cm diam., violaceous, fading to brownish with age; spores with 2 large guttules each 4–5 µm diam. (14–15 (–16) × 8–9 µm) | |
42(40) | Paraphyses moniliform; spores 15.5–17.5 × 7.5–8.5 µm | |
| Paraphyses simple; spores 13–15 (–16) × 6.5–8.5 µm | |
43(39) | Ascospores eguttulate (spores 15–18 × 8–9 µm, ornamented with fine but distinct isolated or sometimes partly confluent warts) | |
| Ascospores with 1 or 2 distinct guttules, or with irregular guttulation | 44 |
44(43) | Apothecia yielding a yellow or yellow-green latex when fresh; spores with 1 or 2 distinct guttules | 45 |
| Apothecia yielding a bluish latex or none; spores with 1 or 2 distinct guttules or with irregular guttulation | 47 |
45(44) | Ascospores ornamented with fine, often elongated, irregular warts less than 0.5 µm high (spores 15–17 × 8–9 µm; apothecia on soil); apothecia 2–5 cm across | |
| Ascospores ornamented with coarse, irregular, isolated warts 1–2 µm high; apothecia 3–5 cm across | 46 |
46(45) | Ascospores 14–17.5 × 8.5–10 µm, with a single guttule; warts to c. 1 µm high | |
| Ascospores 17–19 × 9–10 µm, with 2 guttules; warts to 2 µm high | |
47(44) | Natrophilous; ascospores with irregular guttulation and fine, dense, rugulose-punctate ornament (spores 15–18 × 7–8.5 µm; apothecia 1–4 cm across) | |
| Not natrophilous; ascospores with 1 or 2 guttules; ornament various | 48 |
48(47) | Apothecia on rotten wood or bark | 49 |
| Apothecia on soil or litter | 51 |
49(48) | Ascospores 17–24 × 8–9.5 µm, ornamented with isolated, rather regular warts 0.5–1 µm across; receptacle whitish or pale | |
| Ascospores smaller, 14–16.5 µm long, ornamented with isolated, irregular, sometimes elongated warts mostly 1–2 µm across; receptacle not whitish | 50 |
50(49) | Ascospores 14.5–16.5 × 8.5–9.5 µm, ornamented with isolated, irregular warts commonly 1.5–2 µm across; paraphyses lacking obvious yellow pigment, disc yellow-brown, < 1 cm across | |
| Ascospores 14–15 × 7–8 (–8.5) µm, ornamented with warts 0.5–2 µm across; paraphyses with yellow-brown pigment; disc to 6 cm diam., with purple-brown tints | |
51(48) | Ascospores mostly less than 16.5 µm long | 52 |
| Ascospores mostly longer than 17 µm | 55 |
52(51) | Apothecia yielding a bluish latex, turning violaceous; ascospores narrowly ellipsoid, 7–8 µm diam. (13.5–15.5 µm long) | |
| Apothecia without coloured latex; ascospores ellipsoid to broadly ellipsoid, 8–10.5 µm diam. | 53 |
53(52) | Ascospores 9–10.5 µm diam. (14–16.5 µm long), usually with a single guttule; paraphyses with yellow brown encrusting pigment (apothecia 1–2.5 cm across) | |
| Ascospores 8–9 µm diam., with 1 or 2 guttules; paraphyses lacking yellow-brown encrusting pigment | 54 |
54(53) | Ascospores biguttulate, ellipsoid, to 16.5 µm long, ornamented with isolated regular warts 0.5–1 (–1.5) µm across; apothecia 1–2 cm across, on compost | |
| Ascospores with a single guttule, broadly ellipsoid, to 15 µm long, ornamented with isolated or sometimes confluent or elongated warts mostly 1–2 µm across; apothecia to 5 cm across, on soil | |
55(51) | Disc purple or violaceous, to c. 1.5 cm diam.; spores ellipsoid, 9–11 µm diam. (16–19 µm long), with isolated, mostly regular small warts c. 1–1.2 µm across. Paraphyses without granular pigment but in brownish matrix; on clay soil | |
| Disc brown or if violaceous apothecia larger and spores longer | 56 |
56(55) | Disc lilac or pale violaceous; ascospores narrowly ellipsoid, 8–9 µm diam, with fine, regular, punctate ornament; paraphyses with brownish, granular pigment; apothecia on calcareous soil (spores 19.5–21 × 8–9.5 µm); apothecia to 7 cm across | |
| Disc brown to dark brown, sometimes with purple tinge; ascospores narrowly ellipsoid or ellipsoid, ornament various; paraphyses with or without brown pigment; apothecia on various soils; apothecia 1–5 cm across | 57 |
57(56) | Ascospores commonly broader than 10 µm, with isolated, rounded, mostly regular warts which may be higher and more prominent at the poles; disc dark brown to red-brown | 58 |
| Ascospores mostly 8–10 µm diam., with isolated but sometimes rather irregular, angular or elongated warts, more prominent at the poles or not; disc olive-brown or vinaceous | 59 |
58(57) | Paraphyses with brown pigment; ascospores with warts higher and more prominent at the poles (spores 17–19 × 9–11 µm; apothecia to c. 3–4 cm across) | |
| Paraphyses lacking brown pigment; ascospore warts not higher and more prominent at the poles (spores 17–21 × 10–12 µm; apothecia 1–3 cm across) | |
59(57) | Ascospores with rather coarse irregular, angular, curved or elongated warts to c. 2 µm across; paraphyses lacking granular pigment; apothecia on wet ground; disc with olivaceous tints. (apothecia (2–) 3–5 cm across; spores 17.5–21.5 × 8.5–10 µm) | |
| Ascospores with fine, regular or irregular to angular warts 0.5 (–1) µm across, often more prominent at the poles; paraphyses with distinct brown pigment; apothecia on damp but not wet soil; disc vinaceous, lacking olivaceous tints. (apothecia 1–3 (–5) cm across; spores 17.5–20 (-22) × 8.5–10 µm) |
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