Skyttea nitschkei
Anamorph: not known.
Teleomorph: ascomata apothecia, at first immersed, becoming slightly erumpent, 150-200 µm diam., opening by a central pore fringed by pale hairs (visible with a hand lens or dissecting microscope), otherwise black and smooth. Exciple pseudoparenchymatous, dark brown, ca 20 µm thick, not carbonized, lower part staining deep purple in KOH, lined near the opening with obtuse hairs 20-30 x 2-3 µm in size, smooth, non-septate, brown at the base and colourless at the tip, turning aeruginose green in KOH. Interascal tissue of filiform paraphyses, numerous, septate, occasionally branched, sometimes enlarged to ca 3 µm diam. at the apex, forming a rudimentary pale brown epithecium. Asci 36-45 x 7-9.5 µm, subcylindrical, thick-walled, the apex 2.5-3 µm thick in immature asci, not staining in iodine, 8-spored. Ascospores arranged obliquely uniseriately to biseriately, 9-11 x 3-4 µm, ellipsoidal to fusiform-ellipsoidal, sometimes slightly inaequilateral, colourless, biguttulate, sometimes becoming 1-septate, without a perispore or appendages.
On thalli of Thelotrema lepadinum, causing some degradation.
Common throughout SW England and W Scotland, with records also from Wales and Cumbria.