Marasmius crinisequi F. Muell. ex Kalchbr.

Shay, Jackie E., Desjardin, Dennis E., Perry, Brian A., Grace, Chris L. & Newman, Danny S., 2017, Biodiversity and phylogeny of Marasmius (Agaricales, Basidiomycota) from Madagascar, Phytotaxa 292 (2), pp. 101-149 : 121-122

14. Marasmius crinisequi F. Muell. ex Kalchbr. , in Kalchbrenner, Grevillea 8(48): 153. 1880. ( Fig. 9 , Plate 3 )

= Marasmius equicrinis F. Muell. ex Berk., J. Linn. Soc. Bot. 18: 383. 1881.

= Androsaceus crinisequi (F. Muell. ex Kalchbr.) Overeem, De nuttige planten van Nederlandsch Indië 1: 69. 1927. = Marasmius graminum var. equicrinis (F. Muell. ex Berk.) Dennis, Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 34: 416. 1951.

= Marasmius repens Henn., Bot. Jb. 23: 548. 1897 (nom. illeg., non Marasmius repens (Bull.) Quél. 1886 ).

= Marasmius ramentaceus (Pat.) Sacc. & Traverso, Syll. Fung. (Abellini) 20: 21. 1911.

= Androsaceus ramentaceus Pat., Ann. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, Suppl. 1: 107. 1897.

Type:— AUSTRALIA. North Queensland, Rockingham Bay, F. von Mueller s.n. ( K ( M) 99658, lectotype).

Description:— Pileus 1–2 mm diam, convex to campanulate, umbilicate, with a dark brown papilla; margin plicate to sulcate; surface dull, dry, glabrous; light brownish orange (5 B 5–6). Context thin, buff. Lamellae adnate to a collarium, distant (6), no lamellulae, broad, buff (5 A 3), non-marginate. Stipe 2–4 × <0.5 mm, central, wiry, pliant, arising directly from coarse black rhizomorphs; surface glabrous; dark brown. Odor and taste not distinctive.

Basidiospores (8.8–) 9.6–13.6 × 4–5.6 μm [x m = 10.14 ± 1.24 × 4.54 ± 0.50 μm; Q = 1.57–3.40; Q m = 2.27 ± 0.18, n = 25, s = 1], ellipsoid, smooth, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled. Basidia 18.4–28 × 8.8–9.6 μm, clavate to broadly clavate, 4-spored, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled; sterigmata 4–4.8 × 1.6 μm. Basidioles 16.8–24 × 5.6–7.2 μm, clavate to fusoid, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled. Cheilocystidia of Siccus - type broom cells; main body 8.8–15.2 × 6.4–10.4 μm, clavate to broadly clavate, seldom 2–3-lobed, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled; apical setulae 0.8–4.8 × 0.8–1.6 μm, cylindrical, obtuse, sometimes branched, hyaline, inamyloid. Pleurocystidia absent. Pileipellis not mottled, a hymeniform layer of Siccus - type broom cells; main body 10.4–16 × 6.4–10.4 μm, cylindrical to clavate or broadly clavate, seldom 2–3-lobed, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled; apical setulae 0.8–5.6 × 0.8–1.6 μm, cylindrical, seldom branched, pale brown, inamyloid, thin-walled. Pileus trama interwoven; hyphae 2.4–6.4 μm diam, cylindrical, smooth, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled. Lamellar trama regular; hyphae 1.6–7.2 μm diam, cylindrical, smooth, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled. Stipe tissue monomitic; cortical hyphae 3.2–4.8 μm diam, cylindrical, smooth, dark brown, inamyloid, thick-walled; medullary hyphae 2.4–9.6 μm diam, cylindrical to inflated, smooth, hyaline, dextrinoid, thin-walled. Caulocystidia absent. Clamp connections present.

Habit, habitat and known distribution:—Solitary arising directly from rhizomorphs, attached to debris of Uapaca densifolia , Anthocleista madagascarensis , Omphalea oppositefolia , and Noronhia . Pantropical, common in Africa ( Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone), Asia, Australia, Caribbean region, Madagascar.

Material examined:— MADAGASCAR. Region Alaotra-Mangora, District Moramanga, Commune Andasibe, Vohimana Forest, Piste 2, elev. 820–860 m, GPS: 18˚ 55.422’ S, 48˚ 30.201’ E, 26 January 2014, J. E. Shay 176 ( SFSU).

Notes:— Marasmius crinisequi , commonly called the horsehair fungus, forms basidiomes that arise directly from coarse black rhizomorphs. The species is often arboreal, with the rhizomorphs forming a net-like structure that captures falling leaves. The orange to light brown pileus is less than 2 mm diam, sulcate, with a small dark papilla in the umbilicus, distant (6) lamellae, a short (2–4 mm), dark brown stipe, basidiospores with mean 10.1 × 4.5 μm, and Siccus - type cheilocystidia and pileipellis broom cells. It represents a pantropical species or complex of species in need of more phylogenetic analyses with multiple genes. Repeated attempts to obtain ITS sequences from the Madagascar material were unsuccessful.

Figures

PLATE 3. Basidiocarps representing sect. Marasmius subsect. Sicciformes a) Marasmius brunneoaurantiacus (JES 113) b) Marasmius crinisequi (JES 176) c) Marasmius cf. subruforotula (JES 186). Scale bar = 10 mm. Photography by D.S. Newman.

FIGURE 9. Marasmius crinisequi (JES 176) a) basidiospores; b) basidia; c) basidioles; d) cheilocystidia; e) pileipellis cells. Scale bar = 10 μm. Illustrated by J.E. Shay.