Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis Karasiński, Holec & Dvořák, 2023

Karasiński, Dariusz, Nagy, László G., Szarkándi, János Gergö, Dvořák, Daniel, Kolařík, Miroslav & Holec, Jan, 2023, Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis (Fungi, Agaricales) - a new genus and species for a giant cyphelloid fungus from Białowieża virgin forest in Poland, Phytotaxa 589 (2), pp. 119-136 : 124-129

Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis Karasiński, Holec & Dvořák , sp. nov. Figs. 3–6

MycoBank. MB843796

Etymology. The specific epithet represents the latinized version of the locality name, the Białowieża virgin forest in Poland, the only site where the species has been found so far. The same epithet has been used for Dentipratulum bialoviesense Domański (1965: 7) .

Holotype. Poland, Podlasie Province , the Białowieża National Park, in mixed natural forest of primeval origin, forest section 345 A, N52°44’31.5’’ E23°54’42.2’’, Picea abies : fallen big log ca. 65 cm in diameter, in advanced stage of decay, covered with mosses, 11 August 2009, leg. D. Karasiński 3715 ( KRAM F-59691). Isotype in herbarium PRM ( PRM 957105 ).

Diagnosis. Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis differs from other species of cyphelloid fungi by the following combination of characters: basidiomata large, covering area of several dm 2 on dead wood, consisting of thousands of tubular, finally short-stalked receptacles reaching a length of up to 10 mm and crowded on a distinct subiculum which is gelatinous when young, monomitic hyphal system with clamps, non-encrusted, colourless, mostly unbranched external hyphae, and mostly ellipsoid, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose basidiospores measuring (3.5–)4.0–5.0(–5.2) × (2.6–)3.0–3.5(–4.0) µm with Q = (1.00–)1.14–1.50(–1.71) and Qav = 1.40.

Description. Basidiomata annual, resupinate, widely effused, growing on dead wood, occupying an area up to 50 (–100) cm long and 30 cm wide, linear, circular or most often irregular in outline, consisting of densely aggregated individual receptacles, superficially resembling tubes of polypores, arranged on relatively thick (up to 100 µm, usually thinner), continuous, partially translucent subiculum which is clearly visible to the naked eye, very distinct especially in young basidiomata where it looks gelatinous-like, subhyaline or watery white, with fimbriate and radially arranged, short white strands on margin forming a sterile zone (without receptacles); in mature specimens subiculum less distinct and agglutinated, in senescent and old basidiomata present as an almost invisible subhyaline translucent coat on wood.

Receptacles (1.5–)3–8(–10) mm long and ca. 0.3–0.5 mm in diameter, initially cupulate to funnel- or barrelshaped and sessile, then cylindrical to tubular and with short stipe-like base ca. 200–350 × 100–150 µm; white to cream, sometimes yellowish or even brownish in senescent fruitbodies, mouths white. In some well developed and large basidiomata, the receptacles sometimes have a cap-shaped, widely open apical part, but usually receptacle mouths have orifices equal to receptacle diameter or more often slightly folded inwards. Receptacle surface under lens with longitudinally arranged white fibrils. Smell faint, fungoid, taste at first acidulous, then bitterish.

Hyphal system monomitic. Hyphae thin to slightly thick-walled, with clamp connections, hyaline, smooth, usually with long cells, not reacting in Melzer’s reagent, 3% KOH and Cotton Blue. Subicular hyphae 1.5–4 µm wide, close to substrate forming dense and more or less agglutinated structure of richly branched interwoven hyphae, toward subicular surface hyphae are more loosely arranged, subparallel to interwoven, embedded in a gelatinous matrix which does not stain in Congo Red (while the hyphae wall does), with age collapsed and agglutinated as same as in basal part. Hyphae in a core of trama 2.5–4.5 µm wide, somewhat agglutinated, slightly thick-walled (or appearing so because they are slightly gelified), parallel, with long cells, usually straight or slightly flexuose, sparsely branched. External hyphae on receptacle surface 2–4 µm wide, thin-walled, colourless, densely to loosely interwoven, more or less projecting (trichoderm-like), some hyphal ends with short tuberculate to cylindrical or long flexuose outgrowths, occasionally with shortly forked tips. Hyphae of receptacle mouths of the same width, straight or slightly interwoven with more or less flexuose ends, unbranched, obtuse at apex, occasionally with shortly forked tips, colourless, smooth, without encrustations.

Cystidia and cystidioles absent.

Basidia 16–26 × 5–7 µm, clavate to narrowly clavate, sometimes constricted in middle part, with 4 sterigmata and basal clamp. Basidioles 12–22 × 4–5.5 µm, narrowly clavate.

Basidiospores (3.5–)4.0–5.0(–5.2) × (2.6–)3.0–3.5(–4.0) µm (270 spores from 9 specimens), mean length 4.5 µm, mean width 3.2 µm, Q = (1.00–)1.14–1.50(–1.71), Qav = 1.40, most of them ellipsoid, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose in front view, less frequently ovoid, rarely obovoid to globose, in side view some of them slightly inequilateral with flattened adaxial and convex abaxial side, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth, with small but distinct apiculus, inamyloid, non-dextrinoid, acyanophilous.

Ecology. Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis occurs in mixed lowland forests of primeval origin, most often in forest association Tilio-Carpinetum with admixed Picea abies . Basidiomata are mostly found on moderately to strongly decayed fallen trunks of Picea abies covered by mosses and less frequently on wood of barkless trunks in early stage of decay. Type of rot is unknown.

Distribution. So far, C. bialoviesensis is known only from the Białowieża virgin forest in northeastern Poland. The species is widely distributed there, which is documented by the high number of records and forest sections where it was found (see below). All records of our team originate from the strictly protected zone of the Białowieża National Park, mostly from its southern part near the village of Białowieża. However, we expect its occurrence also in well-preserved forest stands outside the strictly protected zone. The BLASTn search against GlobalFungi database ( Větrovský et al. 2020) did not reveal any sequence with identity higher than 85%, which further documents that C. bialoviesensis is either a very rare species or has a very restricted distribution.

Additional specimens examined. All specimens were studied by us. The specimens are listed chronologically. Elevation range of all Białowieża collections is 150–170 m a.s.l., which corresponds to the range of the strictly protected zone of the Białowieża National Park ( Faliński 1986). Ibid.: the same locality data as the previous record. — Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis , recent collections. POLAND. Podlasie Province: Białowieża National Park, mixed natural forest of primeval origin, forest section 339B, Picea abies : fallen strongly decayed log covered with mosses, 5 July 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3254 (PRM 957084).—Ibid., forest section 371D, Picea abies : fallen strongly decayed trunk, 5 July 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3266 (PRM957085).—Ibid., forest section 340A, N52°44’13.8’’ E23°49’44.4’’, Picea abies : fragment of fallen strongly decayed trunk, 6 July 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3286 (PRM 957086).—Ibid., forest section 340A, Picea abies : fallen log covered with mosses, 6 July 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3297 (PRM 957087).—Ibid., forest section 346, N52°43’55.6’’ E23°56’17.3’’, Picea abies : fallen decayed trunk, 27 July 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3578 (PRM 957088).—Ibid., forest section 319C, N52°44’39.3’’ E23°54’29.0’’, Picea abies : on wood of fallen trunk, 28 July 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3612 (PRM 957089).—Ibid., forest section 370, N52°43’33.8’’ E23°50’45.7’’, Picea abies : decorticated fallen trunk, 10 August 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3705 (PRM 957090).—Ibid., forest section 346, N52°44’29.8’’ E23°55’27.8’’, Picea abies : fallen decayed trunk, 11 August 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3723 (PRM 957091).—Ibid., forest section 288D, N52°45’11.6’’ E23°54’20.9’’, Picea abies : fallen decayed big log, 12 August 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3741 (PRM 957092).—Ibid., forest section 316, N52°46’39.1’’ E23°52’38.5’’, Picea abies : fallen trunk in advanced stage of decay, 14 August 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 3788 (PRM 957093).—Ibid., forest section 374, N52°43’33.1’’ E23°54’48.9’’, Picea abies : fallen trunk, 15 September 2009 leg. D. Karasiński DK 4160 (PRM 957094).—Ibid., forest section 340, N52°44’26.4’’ E23°49’49.2’’, Picea abies : fallen strongly decayed big log covered with mosses, 20 September 2009, leg. D. Karasiński DK 4291 (PRM 957095).—Ibid., N52°45’43.8’’ E23°54’25.7’’, Picea abies : fallen trunk, 22 September 2011 leg. D. Karasiński DK 6453 (PRM 957096).—Ibid., forest section 398B, N52°43.129 E23°50.461, Picea abies : fallen strongly decayed trunk covered with mosses, 12 September 2016 leg. J. Holec JH 75/2016 (PRM 944786).—Ibid., forest section 402B, N52°43.340 E23°53.015, Picea abies : fallen strongly decayed trunk covered with mosses, 13 September 2016 leg. J. Holec JH 96/2016 (PRM 944799; duplicate: PRM 956592, for herbarium processed by M. Kříž).—Ibid., forest section 373, Picea abies : upper part of lying mossy trunk, moderately decayed, 80 cm in diam., 13 September 2016 leg. D. Dvořák DD 160913-03 (BRNU).—Ibid., forest section 373D, N52°43.507 E23°54.468, Picea abies : fallen trunk in early stage of decay, without bark, 13 September 2016 leg. J. Holec JH 107/2016 (PRM 944810).—Ibid., forest section 374C, N52°43’28.0’’ E23°54’38.4’’, Picea abies : fallen decayed log covered with mosses, 23 August 2017 leg. D. Karasiński DK 12068 (PRM 957097).—Ibid., forest section 370C, N52°43’24.2’’ E23°51’06.4’’, Picea abies : fallen decayed log covered with mosses, 24 August 2017 leg. D. Karasiński DK 12100 (PRM 957098).—Ibid., forest section 399, N52°43’21.8’’ E23°51’26.6’’, Picea abies : fallen strongly decayed log, 24 August 2017 leg. D. Karasiński DK 12112 (PRM 957099).—Ibid., forest section 373D, N52°43’21.5’’ E23°54’11.7’’, Picea abies : fallen decayed big log covered with mosses, 27 August 2017 leg. D. Karasiński DK 12125 (PRM 957100).—Ibid., forest section 373D, N52°43’29.5’’ E23°54’06.4’’, Picea abies : fallen strongly decayed trunk covered with mosses, 27 August 2017 leg. D. Karasiński DK 12146 (PRM 957101).—Ibid., forest section 314, N52°45’03.4’’ E23°50’15.4’’, Picea abies : fallen decayed log, 28 August 2017 leg. D. Karasiński DK 12159 (PRM 957102).—Ibid., forest section 284, N52°45’19.4’’ E23°50’26.1’’, Picea abies : fallen decayed log covered with mosses, 28 August 2017 leg. D. Karasiński DK 12170 (PRM 957103).—Ibid., forest section 284, N52°45’17.6’’ E23°50’24.8’’, Picea abies : fallen decayed trunk, 28 August 2017 leg. D. Karasiński DK 12171 (PRM 957104).—Ibid., forest section 318D, N52°44.760’ E23°54.384’, Picea abies : fallen decayed trunk covered with mosses, 19 September 2017 leg. J. Holec (PRM 946078).—Ibid., forest section 318D, N52°44.710 E23°54.401, Picea abies : fallen trunk without bark of diameter 110 cm, 19 September 2017 leg. J. Holec (PRM 946149).—Ibid., forest section not given, on fallen decaying trunk of Picea abies , 22 September 2017 leg. M. Kříž (PRM 956593). — Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis , old collections from Domański’s herbarium KRAM F-SD with annotations on labels. Exact sites of occurrence are unknown. Original texts from labels are given. POLAND. Podlasie Province: Białowieża, ad truncum emortuum Piceae excelsae in silva mixta virginea, 5.VIII.1962 leg. S. Domański (KRAM F-SD 2313 as Cyphella candida / Henningsomyces sp. ).—Białowieża, distr. Hajnówka, ad caudicem Piceae abietis , 5.VIII.1962 leg. S. Domański (KRAM F-SD 5490 as Henningsomyces sp. ).—Białowieża, distr. Hajnówka, ad caudicem putridum Piceae abietis , 6.VIII.1962 leg. S. Domański (KRAM F-SD 5493 as Henningsomyces sp. ).—Białowieża, in silva mixta virginea, ad truncum putridum Piceae excelsae, 5.VIII.1965 leg. S. Domański (KRAM F-SD 4496 as Henningsomyces sp. ). — Henningsomyces puber , collections used for comparison. POLAND. Podlasie Province: Białowieża, DK 8973.— CZECH REPUBLIC. South Bohemia: Boubínský prales virgin forest, fenced core area, 980 m a.s.l., on fallen decayed trunk of Abies alba, 8 October 2013 leg. et det. M. Kříž (PRM 923269).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Basidiomata of Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis.—a: Białowieża National Park in NE Poland, lowland primeval forest of the Tilio-Carpinetum association with Picea abies, large basidiomata on big fallen trunk of Picea abies in advanced stage of decay, photo D. Karasiński.—b: marginal part of basidioma with subiculum and sessile barrel-shaped young receptacles, photo D. Karasiński.—c: young basidioma with well visible subicular layer, photo D. Karasiński.—d: marginal part of mature basidioma with dry subicular layer, photo D. Dvořák (BRNU 680032).—e: mature basidioma with ± 1 cm long receptacles, photo D. Karasiński.

FIGURE 4. Receptacles of Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis (holotype: KRAM F-59691). Line drawing by D. Karasiński.

FIGURE 5. Microcharacters of Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis (holotype:KRAM F-59691), from left to right:external hyphae on receptacle surface, hyphae of receptacle mouth, basidiospores, hymenium. Scale bars = 10 µm (left: for external hyphae and hyphae of receptacle mouths; right: for basidiospores and hymenium). Line drawing by D. Karasiński.

FIGURE 6. Microcharacters of Cyphelloporia bialoviesensis (PRM 944810).—a: basidiospores (grouped from different sites of the same microscopic mount).—b: hymenium.—c: hymenium with receptacle trama.—d, e: hyphae of receptacle mouth.—f, g: external hyphae on receptacle surface. Scale bars = 10 µm. Photos by J. Holec.