Immature fruiting bodies - A mazaedium is forming inside each round tip
A much enlarged view of the mature (ripe) black spore mass called a mazaedium inside a ruptured apothecia
Immature fruiting bodies - A mazaedium is forming inside each round tip | A much enlarged view of the mature (ripe) black spore mass called a mazaedium inside a ruptured apothecia |
| Here the spores are produced inside a ball-shaped structure (in this case an unusual apothecia). When the spores and other parts inside the fruit body mature, they turn very dark and form a black powdery mass - the mazaedium. Here in a Sphaerophorus the top of the apothecia opens and the mazaedium breaks up; the spores are released into the air, or picked up and carried around by insects. | |