ADDITIONAL COLLECTIONS EXAMINED: Little Barrier Island E of Auckland, Thumb Track below summit of Mt Hauturu c. 600 m a.s.l. on rotten bark and wood of unidentified dead tree, North Island, New Zealand, 18 Jun 1981, E. Horak, ZT1522, PARATYPE; Urewera National Park, vicinity Lake Waikaremoana, Gisborne District, North Island, New Zealand, on recently killed tree, G. J. Samuels, 26 May 1982, PDD42912.

Apothecia gregarious, scattered or caespitose, stalked, very variable in size but up to 30 mm high when fresh; pileus variably hemispherical, to 4 mm diam. when dry; hymenium to 270 µm thick, totally covering the upper surface of the pileus, smooth, slightly glistening and variably dark brown when fresh, drying velvety black and often mottled white with extruded ascospores; ectal excipulum either plane or umbilicate around the stipe, concolorous with stipe or darker, on some apothecia scurfy when dry, of variable structure and thickness, composed mainly of an hyaline textura prismatica with cells to 35 x 15 µm mostly lying at a high angle to the surface and with a narrow superficial layer of smaller ellipsoidal to irregularly shaped cells and variably distributed superficial hairs, obtuse, 2-7 celled, to 50 x 5 µm; medullary excipulum of interwoven, hyaline, thin-walled hyphae to 10 µm diam. immersed in a colourless gelatinous matrix; subhymenium an ill-defined layer to 35 µm thick of thinner and more densely interwoven hyphae; stipe cylindrical or slightly tapering, some expanded basally, at first white and smooth, drying greyish orange and in some areas scurfy under low magnification, of variable length and to 1 mm diam. when dry, composed of a medulla of a thin-walled, hyaline textura prismatica with cells to 55 x 10 µm and some gelatinous content, and a cortex to 185 µm thick of a more compact textura prismatica with cells mostly c. 30 x 8 µm and an uneven covering of superficial hairs, obtuse, thin-walled, uneven, mostly 2-4 celled, to 45 x 4 µm. Asci cylindrical with a tapering stalk, thin-walled, thicker apically, small pore J + in Melzer's, with 8 spores in a fascicle, 195-225 x 7.5-8.5 µm. Ascospores cylindrical, apically obtuse, tapering basally, at first multiguttulate, most spores becoming 7-septate, 95-115 x 1.5-2 µm. Paraphyses cylindrical, septate, simple or branched basally, 2-2.5 µm diam., tips expanded to 4-6 µm, 20-30 µm longer than the asci.

Apothecia stipitata, ad 30 mm alta; pileus hemisphaericus, ad 4 mm diam. statu sicco; hymenium superficiem tegens, varie fuscum, arescens atrum; excipulum ectale planum vel umbilicatum circa stipitem, cum stipite concolor vel fuscius, ex textura prismatica hyalina formatum cellulis ad 35 x 15 µm magno angulo ad superficiem iacentibus cum lamina tenui cellularum superficialium minorum et pilorum obtusorum 2-7 cellularum ad 50 x 5 µm; excipulum medullare ex hyphis intertextis hyalinis ad 10 µm diam. formatum in matrice gelatinosa; stipes cylindraceus vel attenuatus, albus arescens griseoaurantiacus, gelatinosum continens; stipitis medulla ex textura prismatica formata cum cellulis ad 55 x 10 µm; stipitis cortex ex textura prismatica formata cellularum minorum cum pilis superficialibus 2-4 cellularum ad 45 x 4 µm; asci cylindracei 8 sporas in fasciculo habentes, poro exiguo J +, 195-225 x 7.5-8.5 µm; ascosporae filiformes, finibus obtusis vel attenuates, multiguttulatae, ad 7 septatas transeuntes, 95-115 x 1.5-2 µm; paraphyses cylindraceae, septatae, plerumque simplices, 2-2.5 µm diam., apicibus ad 4-6 µm extensis, 20-30 µm longioribus quam asci.

Apparently not uncommon on various types of dead wood in wetter areas in the North Island, New Zealand during May-July. When fresh readily separated from the other species of Australasian species of Vibrissea by the combination of dead white stipe and variably brown pileus.

Prope Hunua, Mangitangi Dam, c. 300-600 m super mare, regio Auckland, Insula Septentrionalis Novae Zeelandiae, in radicibus arboris mortuae haud agnitae, 30 Jul 1980, G. J. Samuels et P. R. Johnston, PDD 42916.