Galerina marginata-mushroom spores.

[Seb28]

Galerina marginata
Spores size 8.0-8.6μm x 5.1-5.7μm.

mobile phone image.

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Zeiss Plan Neofluar 100/1.30

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Zeiss Plan Neofluar 63x/1.25, Ph3

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630X,Ph3,crop 2.jpg (172.04 KiB) Viewed 5716 times

[Manfred]

Great pictures, very interesting, I never tried spores but I will do now...thanks for posting

[billben74]

Wow, what a wonderful series of images.
I love your initial mushroom pic as well as your spore pics.
Lovely use of phase here as well.
The inclusion of a scale is really great as well.

[gekko]

Excellent pictures, Seb. Amazing detail for such small objects.

[JimT]

Je suis d'accord avec tout ce qui précède.

[kit1980]

Nice!

[Seb28]

Thank you all for your comments.

[vasselle]

Bonjour.
Très belle série images.
Cordialement seb

[apochronaut]

Nice pictures, especially the tiny spores. Are the first couple, oblique? The detail for such a small subject is exceptional.
This is a super poisonous species. I guess I don't need to ask, how they tasted. My daughter came within a nano-second of putting some of these in her mouth, when she was 3( 30 years ago). If I hadn't turned to check on her at the very moment I did, that would probably have been it. They were in thick shaded grass, growing on buried wood, so you could barely see them.
It's probably worth noting, that taking mushrooms for microscopy requires gloves, unless you are dead.....I mean live certain of the species being collected. Some, such as many in the Amanita genus and even a few Galerina have such acute toxins, that even a taste, is said to be potentially fatal. To quote one reference " the victim dies in maniacal delirium" Now who would want to die, sounding like a WWF contender?

[kit1980]

It's probably worth noting, that taking mushrooms for microscopy requires gloves, unless you are dead.....

I'm sorry, but this is a bit fungophobic. No mushroom can poison through skin.

Even tasting a tiny bit of raw mushroom is an important identification technique and is generally safe as long as one thoroughly spits afterwards (a lot of mentions of this in the literature, for example see https://books.google.com/books?id=kSdA3 ... 0&lpg=PA10). I've read that a person even demonstrated the safety of tasting on Amanita phalloides many times on various events, but I can't find the source right now.

That said, wearing gloves will do no harm. And thoroughly washing one's hands is needed. And of course please don't eat mushrooms which identification is not absolutely sure. Also even edible mushrooms should be well-cooked because mushroom cell walls contain chitin.

[apochronaut]

I said tasting, not touching. Most of your skin isn't the opening to your alimentary canal. Mushrooms, like everything else will contain widely differing amounts of compounds, depending on where they were grown or when they are harvested. While it is true, that tasting many poisonous mushrooms, with toxins in the 2 to 5 groups might cause no lasting harm , I don't think putting A. Phalloides in your mouth too many times would be a wise practice and why would anyone but a fool, need to do that to identify it? You might get a heavy duty one , once in a while. Was it Paul Stamets? I have a feeling, he would do that but maybe only after drinking a gallon of milk thistle juice..

[Rylander]

Hey Seb, fine pictures of a mushroom, which is not Galarina marginata, the spores have the wrong shape, they must be apiculate and verruculose, while you've photographed, is egg-shaped and smooth. It could be a different kind of Galarina.
I have learned at university that you can taste all fungi if the piece is about the size of a pea, but there is an exception, Cortinarius rubellus, here want a piece of this size harm one's kidney within 14 days.

Rylander

[charlie g]

Beautiful fungi images,Seb..quite a joy to see the organism in it's natural setting, and then the spore studies.

1) do you dust the spores into a specific fluid media before cover slip placement? What fluid do you use?

2) Is this a recent specimen collection, or when/ in what season did you encounter this species ?

charlie guevara...BTW...may I plop into this thread a quick image of an oh so similar fungi in it's natural setting?