Cercophora septentrionalis  

Stroma: absent.

Ascomata: 300-480 µm diam, usually aggregated in clusters, pyriform to conical, superficial or semi-erumpent, the neck papillate to conical, 200-300 µm in height, periphysate; violaceous brown, the neck darker, membranous, weakly areolate due to variation in pigmentation, with dark brown flexuous hyphal hairs which extend over the whole of the exposed part of the ascoma, the upper part usually with some short dark thick-walled obtuse agglutinated hairs to 10 µm in length. Peridium composed of three layers; the outer layer of mid brown angular cells to 10 µm diam, merging into an inner layer of hyaline compressed tissue. Interascal tissue composed of copious filiform paraphyses, swollen between the septa, without an obvious mucous coating. Asci 190-210 x 12-18 µm, narrowly clavate, rather long-stalked, thin-walled at all stages, the apex rounded to truncate with a conspicuous J- apical ring to 3.5 µm diam and ca 1.5 µm thick, 8-spored. Ascospores arranged bi- or triseriately, at first 38-43 x 3.5-4 µm, often slightly sigmoid or weakly geniculate near the base, hyaline, thin-walled, aseptate and with two polar tapering gelatinous appendages 35-45 x ca<r> 3.5 µm in size; eventually (often after leaving the ascus) becoming septate about at the upper third, the upper cell 15.5-18 x 7-8.5 µm, becoming ellipsoidal to fusiform-ellipsoidal and dark brown, with a subapical germ pore and sometimes a further septum at the widest point of the dark cell.