Lentinus punjabensis M. Asif

Asif, Muhammad, Saba, Malka, Maula, Fazli & Raza, Mubashar, 2024, Lentinus punjabensis (Polyporaceae), a new species from Lal Suhanra National Park, southern Punjab, Pakistan, Phytotaxa 642 (2), pp. 169-181 : 175

Lentinus punjabensis M. Asif , Saba & M. Raza sp. nov. ( Figs. 4 , 5 )

MycoBank: MB851515

Etymology:—The specific epithet “ punjabensis ” (Latin) refers to the Punjab province of Pakistan where the type specimen was collected.

Diagnosis:— Lentinus punjabensis differs from L. tigrinus by its applanate pileus with dark brown depressed center, erect scales and decurved margin, eroded lamellae, oblong to rarely lacrymoid basidiospores, presence of metuloids, presence of metuloids, and clavate to lageniform or rarely lacrymoid cheilocystidia.

Holotype:— PAKISTAN. Punjab province, Lal Suhanra National Park, Bahawalpur district , 29°46′26″ N, 71°98′52″ E, 140 m elev., on decaying wood, 20 August 2020, Muhammad Asif, AG-48, ( LAH38168 ). GenBank accessions: ITS = PP051302; 28 S = PP051298 .

Description:— Basidiomata small to medium. Pileus 1.6–3.5 cm diam., plano-convex to convex becoming applanate with age, dark brown (7.5YR3/4) at center, pale brown (10YR6/3) in youth becoming brown (7.5YR4/3) to dull brown (7.5YR6/3) with maturity, umbilicate or depressed at center, scaly and hairy, covered with light brown (7.5YR6/3) squarrose erect scales intermixed with hairs, dry and dull, margin slightly decurved and hairy. Lamellae creamy white to pale yellow (2.5Y8/3) in youth, becoming brown (7.5YR4/3) at maturity, sub-distant, decurrent, entire, narrow, wavy, margins with eroded edges, concolorous with faces, lamellulae present in 1–4 tiers of different lengths. Stipe 1.7–6.4 × 0.2–0.4 cm, creamy white to pale brown (2.5Y8/3) near the cap when young becoming dull brown (7.5YR5/3) towards the base with age, centrally attached, rarely eccentric, equal, cylindrical, hollow, context thick, surface fibrous to scabrous, dry, and dull, slightly bulbous base. Annulus absent. Spore print not taken. Odor and taste not observed.

Basidiospores [40/2/2], (5.1–) 5.4–6.4 (–7.9) × (2.3–) 2.7–3.7 (–4) µm, avl × avw = 6 × 3.1 μm, Q = 1.4–1.6, Qav = 1.5, oblong, ellipsoidal, cylindrical to subcylindrical, or amygdaliform, rarely lacrymoid, thin-walled, smooth, apiculate, hyaline in 5 % KOH, no reaction in Melzer’s, non-guttulate. Basidia (16–) 16.5–20.5 (–22) × (6.1–) 6.11–8.1 (–9.4) µm, avl × avw = 18.8 × 7.3 µm, clavate to broadly clavate, often two-spored, thick-walled, hyaline in 5 % KOH, non-guttulate. Cheilocystidia (14.1–) 15–18.5 (–20.6) × (4.3–) 4.7–6 (–6.4) µm, avl × avw = 16.6 × 5.5 µm, clavate, to broadly clavate with small outgrowths, lageniform, or rarely utriform, thin-walled, without internal content. Metuloids 16.3–20.5 × 4.7–5.3, scattered, on the faces and edges of the lamellae, thin-walled, narrowly clavate with rounded apex. Pileipellis a trichoderm consisting of a dimitic hyphal system; generative hyphae up to 2.5 µm diam., not inflated, hyaline, rarely branched, thin-walled, with clamp connections collapsing and difficult to observe; skeletal hyphae up to 3.7 µm diam., hyaline, unbranched, thick-walled, with a narrow lumen. Stipitipellis a cutis, made up of long and narrow hyphae up to 5.2 μm diam., thin-walled, septate, rarely branched, clamp connections present.

Habit and habitat:—Saprotrophic, or parasitic on decaying wood, under mixed angiospermic vegetation dominated by Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.

Geographical distribution:—So far, known only from the type locality, Lal Suhanra National Park, District Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan.

Additional material examined:— PAKISTAN. Punjab province, Lal Suhanra National Park, Bahawalpur district , 29°46′26″ N, 71°98′52″ E, 140 m elev., on decaying wood, 17 August 2021, Muhammad Asif, MA-37, ( LAH38172 ). GenBank accessions: ITS = PP051303 ; 28 S = PP051299 .

Figures

FIGURE 4. a–g Basidiomata of Lentinus punjabensis (Holotype LAH38168); h Habitat. Scale bar: a-g = 1 cm. Photos by: Muhammad Asif.

FIGURE 5. a–g Line drawings of Lentinus punjabensis (Holotype; LAH38168) a = Basidia, b = Basidiospores, c = Cheilocystidia, d = Metuloides, e = Generative hyphae of pileipellis, f = Skeletal hyphae of pileipellis, g = Stipitipellis, Scale bars: a–d = 4 µm; e–g = 2 µm. Drawings by: Muhammad Asif.