Lamprospora australis

The fruitbodies were growing in a moss bed that was on the ground. In Photo 3 you see some smaller fruitbodies and also (especially at the lower left) numerous white to very pale green filaments of either an alga or a cyanobacterium. The inset shows a number of spores mostly still within the cylindrical asci. In this species there are 8 spores per ascus and the mature spores are colourless, spherical and covered with a mesh-like ornamentation. Also in the inset you see a number of narrower, sterile structures (the paraphyses), each filled with orange-brown granules that give the fruitbody its orange colour. The asci and paraphyses are orientated vertically with the apices of the mature asci reaching the upper surface of the fruitbody (and therefore in contact with the air). The tips of the asci and paraphyses form the circular, orange, upper surface of the fruitbody. The inset shows part of some tissue (mounted in water) that had been squashed under a cover slip on a slide, to spread it out - so the spatial relationships between asci and paraphyses have been distorted. Photo 4 shows part of another section through a fruitbody, still squashed a little, but not as greatly disturbed as in the inset of Photo 3. You have to imagine that the fruitbody has been tilted at about 45 degrees, with its upper surface facing towards the top left of your screen. The asci and paraphyses constitute about half the thickness of the fruitbody. Below them is supporting tissue and you see a tiny bit of that (and some dark rubbish) at the lower right corner. Most of the photo is taken up by asci and an abundance of paraphyses. All the spores are still quite immature since they are still smooth and the asci still have some growing to do (and would then push their way through the surrounding paraphyses).