27 November 2016 Exbury Gardens, Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. Fruiting Body Tongue like, with a distinct blade and stem, often flattened and longitudinally grooved, black to blackish brown, surface dry, somewhat scaly, to about 6 cm high Smell Indistinct Taste Unknown Distribution Infrequent Habitat With grass Microscopic Features Ascospores long and thin, curved, usually 7 septate when mature (65-80) x (5-6) µm2. Paraphyses pale brown, slender, straight or curved, septate, each segment being much longer than it is wide. Edibility Inedible Notes This species is, according to the literature, rather variable. See for example the key by Irene Ridge. 
Spores viewed with a x100 immersion objective. 27 November 2016 Exbury Gardens, Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. 
Asci and paraphyses viewed with a x40 objective. 27 November 2016 Exbury Gardens, Hampshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. |