Spiropes carpolobiae Berm.-Cova & M. Piepenbr. sp. nov.

Fig. 6

Holotype.

On Meliola cf. carpolobiae on living leaves of Carpolobia lutea ( Polygalaceae), Benin, Atlantique, Attogon, Niaouli Forest, 6°44'41"N, 2°7'52"E, 68 m a.s.l., 28 February 2022, M.A. Bermúdez, A. Tabé, D. Dongnima, I. Agonglo, O.P. Agbani, M. Piepenbring, N.S. Yorou, MB166 (M).

Etymology.

Named after the genus of the host plant.

Description.

Colonies effuse, dark brown to black, velvety to hairy. Hyphae superficial, branched, anastomosing, septate, 1-2 µm wide, straw-coloured, smooth. Conidiophores arising singly, erect or ascending, straight to flexuous, septate, up to 250 µm long, 2-5 µm thick, sometimes thicker at the apex, brown, not smooth, with scattered scars mostly in the upper parts of the conidiophores. Conidia solitary, straight or slightly curved, ovate to slightly fusiform, 3-septate, (12.5-)13-16(-19) × 5-7 µm, 2-2.5 µm wide at the base, brown, the cells at each end pale brown, septa darker, surface verrucose. As seen by SEM, the ornamentation of the conidia is distinctly reticulated, with thin to thick networks that can form ridges.

Known distribution.

On colonies of Meliola cf. carpolobiae on living leaves of Carpolobia lutea in Benin.

Notes.

S. carpolobiae is the only known species of Spiropes with ovate to slightly fusiform conidia.