Brevicellicium olivascens

Brevicellicium olivascens is a species of crust-forming fungus in the family Hydnodontaceae that grows as thin, olive-tinted patches on decaying wood. First described by the Italian mycologist Giacomo Bresadola in 1892 as Odontia olivascens, it was later reclassified in 1978 by the Swedish mycologists Karl-Henrik Larsson and Erik Hjortstam, who created the new genus Brevicellicium (meaning "short cells") to accommodate it. This inconspicuous fungus forms delicate, web-like films only 0.1–0.3 millimetres thick that appear greyish-olive to olive-brown when fresh, becoming papery when dry, and can be identified microscopically by its distinctive two-spored reproductive cells. Though easily overlooked due to its subtle appearance, B. olivascens has a widespread distribution across Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania, where it plays an ecological role in breaking down dead wood of broadleaf trees and woody vines.