1

Asci suboperculate, thick walled, long, cylindrical above, usually with much narrower, flexuous, trailing hypha-like base, of "aporhynque" type (Berthet, 1964a); ascospores hyaline, always guttulate, plurinucleate, often asymmetrical, smooth or covered by transverse or longitudinal striations or ridges unaffected ,by cotton-blue in lactic acid (except in Galiella Nannf. & Korf apud Korf, the ascospores of which are covered with callose-pectic warts); paraphyses delicate to slender, sometimes interspersed with distinctive hymenial hairs; medullary excipulum always prosenchymatous, sometimes embedded in a gelatinous matrix; apothecia though, corky, leathery, subgelatinous but never truly fleshy, lignicolous or rarely terricolous

Asci operculate, or very rarely suboperculate, thin walled, cylindrical, subclavate, clavate or saccate, base not hypha-like, of "pleurorhynque" or "aporhynque" type; ascospores hyaline to dark coloured, with or without oil globules, plurinucleate, tetranucleate or mostly uninucleate, mostly symmetrical, smooth or covered by various kinds of ornaments of callose-pectic material; paraphyses slender to stout, rarely delicate; medullary excipulum pseudoparenchymatous or prosenchymatous but never embedded in a gelatinous matrix; apothecia fleshy to firm fleshy, brittle, mostly terricolous but sometimes also on dung or other vegetable remains, or lignicolous

2

Asci non-amyloid; ascospores hyaline to pale yellowish; octal and medullary excipulum mostly well differentiated, many of which are of textura angularis or textura globulosa and textura intricata respectively.

Asci mostly amyloid; ascospores hyaline to dark coloured; excipular tissue mostly of subglobose or polygonal isodiametric or slightly elongated cells (textura globulosa or textura angularis):

3

Ascospores plurinucleate or tetranucleate; medullary excipulum always prosenchymatous; receptacle broadly effused or sponge-like, campanulate, saddle shaped or cupulate and distinctly stipitate, but if sessile they axe always large and dull coloured and have uniguttulate ascospores; terricolous.

Ascospores uninucleate; medullary excipulum prosenchymatous to pseudoparenchymatous; receptacle minute to large, lenticular, scutellate, discoid or cupulate, sessile or rarely substipitate, often with distinctive thick walled hairs; terricolous, fimicolous, lignicolous

4

Ascospores plurinucleate, smooth walled, without oil globules but with numerous small external guttules around their polar regions

Ascospores always tetranucleate, smooth or rarely reticulate, containing 1-3 oil globules

5

Apothecia small to large, discoid, scutellate cupulate or car shaped, dull whitish or brownish or often brightly coloured from the presence of carotenoid pigments; octal and medullary excipulum mostly well diffierentiated, the latter often prosenchymatous; asci cylindrical to subcylindrical, 4-8 spored; ascospores normally uniseriate, smooth or often ornamented with simple or complicated markings, mostly with oil globules

Apothecia very small, gregarious, densely crowded to confluent, orange or pinkish red, lenticular, seated on wall developed subic ulum on recently sterilized substrata; ectal and medullary excipulum pseudoparenchymatous; asci subcylindrical, thin walled 8-spored; ascospores uniseriate, smooth walled, without oil globules or gaseous bubbles

5’’

Apothecia minute, very small to small, scattered to gregarious, mostly dull coloured, habit ascoboloid, always fimicolous ectal and medullary excipulum mostly pseudoparenchymatous, usually poorly differentiated; asci one to many per apothecium, subcylindrical, broadly clavate to saccate, thin or thick walled 8-multi-spored; ascospores uniseriate, biseriate or irregular, very small to rather large, smooth walled, without oil globules (in which case the asci am thick walled) or with conspicuous and highly refractive bubbles

Ascospores hyaline or brown coloured, mostly thin walled, smooth or covered by callose-pectic markings of sporal origin

6’

Ascospores always dark coloured and thick walled, with purple or. brown markings of extra sporal or vacuolar origin

0

Apothecia dark coloured; disc brown, brownish black or almost black (Tribe URNULEAE)

Apothecia bright coloured; disc of some shade of red from carotenoid pigments (Tribe SARCOSCYPHACEAE)

l

Apothecia multiaxial; receptacle car or spoon shaped, clustered, several arising from a common main stalk

Apothecia monaxial; receptacle cupulate

2

Apothecia lignicolous; hairs coloured; ascospores smooth or longitudinally or transversely striate

Apothecia terricolous; hairs hyaline; ascospores warted

3

Asci of the whole hymenium ripened simultaneously; ectal excipulum pseudoparenchymatous

Asci not ripened simultaneously; octal excipulum prosenchymatous or sometimes pseudoparenchymatous

4

Apothecia cupulate to funnel shaped, hairs conical or subcylindrical; medullary excipulum not gelatinized

Apothecia urceolate to turbinate, hairs scaly triangular; part of medullary excipulum embedded in a gelatinous matrix

5

Ascospores smooth walled, more or less symmetrical; octal excipulum regularly made up, almost of textura porrecta or textura prismatica

Ascospores striate or smooth, usually asymmetrical, subcymbiform; ectal excipulum of interwoven hyphae

6

Apothecia cupulate or discoid, medullary excipulum not gelatinized

Apothecia ear or fan shaped, medullary excipulum embedded in gelatinous matrix

l

The cortical palisade-like layer beneath the hymenium less than 50 It thick; prosenchymatous layer if the receptacle interspersed with large, thick walled, nematode-like cells up to 20 um diam. Australia

The cortical palisade-like layer beneath the hymenium more than 80 um thick; large nematode-like cells absent from the prosenchymatous layer . .

2

Paraphyses curved at the apex; ascospores ellipsoidal, obtuse at the ends. North America

Paraphyses straight at the apex; ascospores subfusoid ellipsoidal, sometimes asymmetrical. Argentina

la

Apothecia at first subterranean

Apothecia superficial from the first

2

Apothecia cupulate at maturity

Apothecia discoid at maturity

3

Apothecia sessile without copious basal hyphae; disc white or whitish

Apothecia pseudostipitate, with basal hyphae; disc brownish at maturity

4

Ascospore sufoidal, hairs brown waged

Ascospores ellipsoidal, hairs colourless but sometimes with brownish cell sap

5

Ascospores globose

Ascospores ellipsoidal

6

Ascospores without oil globules

Ascospores with oil globules

7

Disc white, hairs present

Disc brownish, hairs absent

l

When young medullary excipulum gelatinized; receptacle irregularly folded or wrinkled; basal hyphae mostly minutely. warted

Receptacle without gelatinized zone and not folded or wrinkled; basal hyphae smooth walled

2

Spore ornaments large, up to 5 um diam

Spore ornaments small, mostly less than 1 um diam.; apothecia usually occurring on sandy soil

3

Ascospores verrucose; paraphyses subcapitate. Argentina

Ascospores tuberculate; paraphyses subclavate

4

Ascospores broadly ellipsoidal, 20-23.5 x 12-13.5 um apothecia dark rusty brown to purple brown

Ascospores ellipsoidal; apothecia dark rusty greyish or light blackish brown to olivaceous brown

5

Ascospores up to 29.1 um long, tubercles flattened or pulvinate, up to 2.5 um high. Australia

Ascospores less than 25.3 um long; tubercles rounded, up to 4 u high, Japan

6

Asci 8-spored

Asci 4-spored

2

Apothecia small to large, cupulate to discoid, outer surface mostly covered by hyaline or brown thick walled hairs, also terrestrial. Disc white, pale grey, ochraceous, brown of reddish brown. Ectal excipulum of textura angularis to textura prismatica, hyaline to pale brown, medullary excipulum well differentiated, hyphae mostly slender. Ascospores smooth to coarsely but simply ornamented. Paraphyses subclavate, straight, not green with iodine

Apothecia medium to large, rarely small, tomentose, discoid, cupulate or more often car shaped or split down on one side, always terrestrial. Disc of some shade of yellow, ochraceous, grey, brown or purple. Ectal excipulum of textura globulosa to textura angularis, sharply differentiated from the prosenchymatous medullary excipulum. Ascospores mostly smooth walled, guttulate. Paraphyses slender, often curved or hooked, sometimes lobed or forked at the apex, not green with iodine

3

Apothecia scutellate or discoid, sessile, small to medium sized, outer surface rarely smooth, mostly covered by characteristic, reddish brown, acuminate, basally forked rooting hairs, growing on dead wood, dung or other vegetable remains, rarely on the ground. Disc reddish orange, orange yellow or yellow. Ectal excipulum of angular, polygonal or globose cells, medullary excipulum of irregularly interwoven hyphae with cells often strongly inflated, or poorly differentiated. Ascospores ornamented with warts of various sizes, simple or complicated, or smooth but often their outer walls readily become loose when heated in lactic acid. Paraphyses straight, clavate to lobed, green in iodine

Apothecia discoid to cupulate, sessile or stipitate, small to large, outer surface with simple brown or hyaline, thin or thick walled hairs or the apothecia are hairless. Disc white, yellow, orange to red. Ectal excipulum variable, of textura intricata, textura angularis, rarely textura globulosa. Medullary excipulum well to poorly developed, also very variable, of interwoven delicate to coarse hyphae or pseudoparenchymatous. Ascospores smooth or covered by simple or com- plicated ornaments. Paraphyses delicate to stout, apex straight or curved, usually green in iodine. On the ground, often amongst mosses, rarely on mosses

1

Ascospores enveloped by a thin, hyaline, loose, fusiform apiculate and membrane-like follicle

Ascospores without loose, fusiform follicle

2

Ascospores with delicate outer walls which loosen and become visible when heated in lactic acid

Ascospores with outer walls not loosened when heated in lactic acid

3

Ascospores fusoidal, non-guttulate, covered by delicate transverse ridges or wrinkles

Ascospores globose, subglobose or ellipsoidal, guttulate, ornamented with minute to coarse callose-pectic warts, spines or reticula

4

Apothecia hairy

Apothecia not hairy

l

Ascospores 24.5-31.8 um long, covered by short, broken sinuate wavy and occasionally anastomosing ridges, sometimes imperfectly reticulate

Ascospores less than 25 um long, covered by minute to large, discrete, angular, orbicular, amoeboid, sometimes anastomosing warts or crests

2

Rooting hairs mostly low than 500 um long; ascospores broadly ellipsoidal to almost subglobose, minutely warted; apothecia mostly on damp ground

Rooting hairs mostly more than 500 um long; ascospores ellipsoidal, minutely to coarsely ornamented; apothecia generally lignicolous, occasionally also on the ground

3

Spore ornaments minute, barely visible in optical section

Spore ornaments large to very large, clearly visible in optical section

4

Ascospores oblong ellipsoidal, spore ornaments mostly less than 1.7 um wide

Ascospores ellipsoidal, spore ornaments larger, up to 3 um wide

l

Rooting hairs massive, conspicuous, distinctly forked at the base

Rooting hairs delicate, inconspicuous, base not distinctly forked, simple or bulbous

2

Apothecia with stellate hairs

Apothecia without stellate hairs

3

Apothecia less than 2 mm diam.; ascospores more than 20 um long

Apothecia more than 2 mm diam.; ascospores up to 19 um long

4

Ascospores 21-27.3 x 12-16 um.

Ascospores 29-36.3 x 14-18 um.

l

Ascospores echinulate

Ascospores reticulate

1’’

Ascospores tuberculate

Meshes of reticulations irregular, their ridges extending across the surface of the spore in various directions and resembling a cord wound about its surface

2’

Meshes of reticulations more or less regular, mostly 6-sided

Meshes of reticulations 2-4 um wide

3’

Meshes of reticulations 4-8 um wide

Tubercles small, mostly less than 2 um diam.

4’

Tubercles large, more than 3 um diam

Individual tubercles appearing translucent and reticulate from the presence of numerous internal globules

5’

Individual tubercles simple

l

Apothecia very small to small, asci broadly clavate, ascospores usually irregulary biseriate at maturity

Apothecia medium sized to very large, rarely small, asci subcylindrical or cylindrical, mature ascospores uniseriate

2

Ascospores ellipsoidal to broadly ellipsoidal or sometimes almost subglobose, hyaline to brownish

Ascospores globose, brownish

l

Apothecia when young submerged in sandy soil, ascospores large, 23.6- 27.3 um long, hyaline, smooth walled but usually indistinctly apiculate at both ends

Not as above

2

Ascospores without oil globules, mostly smooth walled or rarely ornamented

Ascospores with oil globules, minutely to coarsely ornamented

3

Apothecia on burnt ground, ascospores warted

Apothecia not on burnt ground, ascospores smooth walled

4

Ascospores 20-25x10-12.7 um

Ascospores less than 18 um long

5

Paraphyses moniliform, with lower cells inflated

Paraphyses not moniliform

6

Apothecia chestnut brown

Apothecia pale ochraceous or yellowish brown, often growing in damp cellars, green houses, between paying stones etc.

7

Ascospores warted, not apiculate

Ascospores reticulate

7’’

Ascospores either covered by sinuate ridges, or warted and apiculate

Ascospores broadly ellipsoidal, 13.8-16.3 x 10-11.5um apothecia dark blackish brown, on sand or sandy soil

8’

Ascospores ellipsoidal, less than 13 um long, apothecia purplish, on burnt ground

Ascospores smooth or at complete maturity very minutely warted

9’

Ascospores distinctly covered by minute warts

Ascospores subglobose

10’

Ascospores ellipsoidal

Meshes of reticulations more or less regular. isodiametric

11’

Meshes of reticulations elongated, longitudinally orientated

Ascospores apiculate

12’

Ascospores not apiculate

Ascospores hyaline

13’

Ascospores brown