Description

 Life habit: saprobic, not lichenized; Thallus: sterile mycelium immersed in the substrate, often rendering the infested area a white color; Apothecia: black, rather robust, 0.6-0.9 mm tall, with a shining stalk; capitulum: 0.25-0.35 mm in diam., obconical to lenticular; exciple: 35-60 µm thick, well-developed, reddish brown to brown in the outer part, consisting of isodiametric to elongated cells 7-12 µm wide forming a pseudoparenchymatic tissue, in the uppermost part with small and heavily pigmented cells, innermost part consisting of periclinally arranged, thinner cells; stalk: 0.08-0.10 mm in diam., the central part consisting of periclinally arranged, slightly intertwined, pale hyphae, 2-3 µm in diam., stalk with a reddish pigment in the outer part and sometimes also in the central parts, the pigment often located to minute, amorphous granules or droplets, pigmented parts K+ intensified red or with a grayish red tinge, H+ intensified red; hymenium: dark brown above, 50-60 µm tall; hypothecium: pale green, 65-90 µm thick; asci: cylindrical, 44-55 x 4-5 µm, with apex uniformly 2-3 µm high and without canal; ascospores: dark brown, simple, fusiform to ellipsoid, 8-9 x 3.5-4.5 µm, smooth under the light microscope or with a very minute ornamentation; Pycnidia: not observed; Secondary metabolites: none detected except for an unidentified, red pigment.; Substrate and ecology: on dry wood in exposed situations; World distribution: Australia, southern Europe, and North America; Sonoran distribution: Arizona, southern California, and Baja California Sur.; Notes: Mycocalicium victoriae is characterized by its rather robust apothecia, its distinctive reddish color of the outer part of the stalk and the exciple (section!), the paler central part of the stalk and by its exciple structure. It differs from M. albonigrum in having more robust apothecia, a pale interior of the stalk, and the occurrence of a reddish pigment. It is also similar to M. subtile, but has a pale interior of the stalk and a different exciple structure.