Neolecta irregularis
Sexual morph: Ascocarps 1-7 cm long, narrowly to broadly clavate, spathulate or highly lobed and branched, usually flattened, fleshy, stuffed or hollow. Clavula 2-25 mm wide, smooth or more often subplicate or irregularly folded, pale luteous to orangish luteous or intensely yellow, apricot to ochreous with age (Rayner 1970), confluent with the stipe along an uneven border, in fresh condition slowly becoming citrine to greenish glaucous when dipped in Melzer's reagent. The clavula context and the hymenium margin of fresh ascocarps slowly becoming vinaceous black in Melzer's reagent. Stipes 1-10 mm wide above, subglabrous, pubescent or tomentose, white to straw or pale luteous, tapering below and rooting, occasionally forked above. Odor and taste not distinctive. Asci cylindrical to clavate, 100-135 pm long, 5-7 pm wide above, 3.5-4 pm wide below, eight-spored, lacking croziers; apices thickened but partially penetrated by the papillate cytoplasmic body; walls amyloid in Melzer's reagent after treatment in hot KOH solution. Ascospores uniseriate below, occasionally biseriate above, 5.5-10 x 3.5-5 ym, usually 8 x 4 pm, ellipsoid, ovoid, subglobose or occasionally reniform, hyaline, smooth, thinwalled, nonseptate, inamyloid. Hymenophore and stipe tramal hyphae parallel to slightly interwoven, 3.5-8.5 ym, thin-walled, frequently septate, inflated towards the ascocarp center. Septa highly refractive, thickened, weakly amyloid on some inflated hyphae, often with large amyloid septa1 plugs. Oleiferous hyphae scattered, 3.5-9 ym wide, filled with dense cytoplasm, golden brown in Melzer's reagent, hyaline in water, weakly amyloid in some areas. Stipe vestiture composed of partially matted reflexed hyphal ends. Hyphal hairs of the stipe 4-7 pm wide, frequently septate, hyaline; apices rounded.
DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA: Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec.
SPORULATING PERIOD: August-October. HABITAT: Leaf mould, needle beds, and moss carpets.
SPECIMENS EXAMINED : CANADA : NOVA SCOTIA : Kentville, Sept. 1937, K. A. Harrison (DAOM 1065), Oct. 4, 1951, K. A. Harrison (DAOM 1547).
FIGS. 1, 3, and 4. Neolecta irregularis. FIGS.2, 5 , and 6. N. vitellina. Figs. 1 (TRTC 9645) and 2 (TRTC 10076). Asci with apical nasse. Figs. 3 (TRTC 23530), 4 (TRTC 44558), and 6 (S.A.R. 1430). Ascospores. Fig. 5 (S.A.R.1794). Ascospores producing conidia (arrow).
References:
Redhead. S. A. 1977. The genus Neolecta (Neolectaceae fam. nov., Lecanorales. Ascomycetes) in Canada. Can. J. Bot. 55: 301-306.
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