Melanconis marginalis subsp. italica (Senan., Camporesi & K.D. Hyde) Jaklitsch & Voglmayr, comb. et, 2020

Jaklitsch, Walter M. & Voglmayr, Hermann, 2020, The genus Melanconis (Diaporthales), MycoKeys 63, pp. 69-117 : 69

Melanconis marginalis subsp. italica (Senan., Camporesi & K.D. Hyde) Jaklitsch & Voglmayr, comb. et stat. nov.

≡ Melanconis italica Senan., Camporesi & K.D. Hyde, in Senanayake et al., Stud. Mycol. 86: 273 (2017) (Basionym).

Type material.

Holotype. Italy, Province of Forlì-Cesena, Fiumicello di Premilcuore, on dead branch of Alnus cordata , 4 Dec 2013, E. Camporesi IT 1557 (MFLU 17-0879; ex-type cultures MFLUCC 16-1199, MFLUCC 17-1659; isotype BBH 42441).

Notes.

It is presently unclear, whether this poorly described and illustrated taxon that is only known from a single collection is simply Melanconis marginalis subsp. europaea or merits a subspecies name of its own. First, the host given by the authors, Alnus cordata , naturally occurs in southern Italy and Corsica and, thus, may be correct only if planted in the collection area, which is not given by the authors. Secondly, the ascospores are in the range of other subspecies and appendages are neither mentioned nor illustrated, although a few are visible in their ascus images. Apparently, ascospores were mounted in KOH, where appendages are invisible. Thirdly, they describe the asexual morph from culture and include only a poor image of conidia without giving any measurements. Last but not least, only LSU, ITS and rpb2 are available, which are insufficient to reliably resolve its true phylogenetic position. In addition, instead of comparing their taxon with M. marginalis , they compare it with M. alnicola ( Jaap 1917), which is a synonym of Alnecium auctum .