Mucronella bresadolae

Sporocarp
Fruiting body, 2.0-7.0 mm tall, approximately 1.0 mm thick simple, slender, tapered above and below, appearing spindle-shaped, round in cross section, solid, the upper portion fertile; surface glabrous, whitish, on a short inconspicuous, narrowed sterile base, the latter cream-yellow, minutely hairy when viewed with a hand lens; fruiting bodies typically clustered, hanging from a lignicolous substrate; odor indistinct; taste mild.

Spores
Spores 4.5-6.0 x 3.5-4.5 µm, subglobose, broadly ellipsoid to tear-shaped, smooth, thin-walled, hilar appendage inconspicuous, amyloid; spore deposit not seen.

Habitat
Single to densely clustered on well-decayed conifer wood; fruiting during the mid-winter months.

Edibility
Unknown, too small to be of culinary value.

Comments
Looking much like a miniature Hericium erinaceus, and possibly distantly related, this tooth fungus is easily recognized by its inverted growth form and lignicolous habit. Though not rare, it is seldom found, except by collectors combing downed logs for inconspicuous polypores, mycenas, etc. An interesting aspect of this fungus is the presence of crystals in the hyphal tissue, many of which are tetrahedral in shape.