Thanks Pitufo. It’s a long time since I looked at spores in KOH as I invariably look at fresh spores in water. I thought I remember that it made the spores appear a bit darker/browner but it isn’t regarded as a stain.

Thanks Chris. No I didn’t use KOH with these, they were in water. The Panaeolus spores are all naturally dark, the spore print is what I’d calll black/brown, and the Hypholoma and Inocybe spores are mid brown. I always try and avoid using KOH on fresh spores as I get a better record of their natural...

Here are some photos of fungal spores and the basidiocarps that produced them. They are all taken under the 100X oil objective (with the exception of the Entoloma which was 40x). They vary in size but are between 7 and 18 microns in length. The first four are from the same genus. The spores are as p...

Stunning photos, awesome resolution!

Hi,

Myxomycetes can be tough to identify. From my limited experience this looks like a Cribraria species, possibly something like Cribraria violacea .

David

A very nice study - I like the section of the apothecium.

David

Beautiful images.

Dave

Wow! very nice.

The advice to tourists is “take only pictures and leave only footprints” but you always seem to bring some sand home in your suitcase, so I had a look at it under crossed polarisers. I know virtually nothing about sand (or geology) and found it interesting so I thought I’d share what I found out. Th...

It looks like the fertile surface of Phlebia tremellosa.

David

Very nice. A great subject for stereo.

David

Fascinating! The “rhizoid-like ectoplasmic network of branched, anastomosing, wall-less filaments” show up well under phase contrast.

David

Very nice!

David.

Andy, I used the First Light Optics flocking. Just cut it to size, took off the backing paper and rolled it in to a tube. The big down side is that the flocking particles are easily shed from the surface like a black dust. Before I cut it to shape I used sticky tape to remove as much loose stuff as ...

Many thanks Michael, that’s very useful to know.