Macbrideola cf martini on Decaying Sycamore Log

I found this fruiting slime mould at the end of September. The colony was very tiny and I saw it only because I rotated the log and spotted it on the edge. It was growing on the surface of what remained of the bark after several years of decay.

The FOV (last two images) was only ca 4-5mm wide.

I thought it was a [i]Comatricha[/i] species. Two species had been moved into the genus [i]Macbrideola[/i]. It showed a resemblance to both although the branching (capitillium) of the stems looked much more like that of [i]M. martinii[/i].

Such records as I could find of the genus in the UK were of [i]M. cornea[/i] and I don't know if [i]C.martinii[/i] has been recorded from the UK so I have inserted the "cf" as a precaution. Whichever it is, it is the only time I have found this species.

Olympus EM-1 (manual mode), Laowa 25mm f2.8 2.5x-5x ultra-macro at f8 and x5 (last two images), twin TTL flash hand-held.

The stereos are crosseye.

Harold