This is a very interesting genus, and one that will attract the attention of any one at first sight. It grows in the form of a spathula, from which it receives its generic name. The spore-body is flattened and grows down on both sides of the stem, tapering downward.
Spathularia flavida. Pers.
The Yellow Spathularia. Edible.
Photo by C. G. Lloyd.
Figure 424.—Spathularia flavida.
The spore body is a clear yellow, sometimes tinged with red, shaped like a spathula, the apex blunt, sometimes slightly cleft, the surface wavy, somewhat crisp, growing down the stem on opposite sides further than V. velutipes.
The stem is thick, hollow, white, then tinged with yellow, slightly compressed; asci clavate, apex somewhat pointed, 8-spored; spores arranged in parallel fascicles, hyaline, linear-clavate, usually very slightly bent, 50–60×3.5–4µ; paraphyses filiform, septate, often branched, tips not thickened, wavy. While this is a beautiful plant it is not common. Found in August and September.