Lopharia sinensis S.H. He, S.L. Liu & Y.C. Dai

Liu, Shi-Liang, Nakasone, Karen K., Wu, Sheng-Hua, He, Shuang-Hui & Dai, Yu-Cheng, 2018, Taxonomy and phylogeny of Lopharia s. s., Dendrodontia, Dentocorticium and Fuscocerrena (Basidiomycota, Polyporales), MycoKeys 32, pp. 25-48 : 26-30

Lopharia sinensis S.H. He, S.L. Liu & Y.C. Dai sp. nov. Figs 2 C–D, 4

Diagnosis.

Differs from L. cinerascens by its ellipsoid basidiospores and long, projecting cystidia. Known only from northern China.

Holotype.

CHINA. Ningxia Autonomous Region: Jingyuan County, Liupanshan Forest Park, on dead angiosperm branch, 4 Aug. 2015, He 2428 (holotype, BJFC 020881!).

Etymology.

" sinensis " (Lat.) refers to the type locality in China.

Fruiting body.

Annual, effused to effused-reflexed, adnate, coriaceous, first as small patches, later confluent, effused part up to 8 cm long, 2.5 cm wide, up to 1 mm thick, pilei projecting up to 1 cm, 3 cm wide. Abhymenial surface tomentose to glabrous, greyish-orange (6B3) to brownish-grey [6D(2-4)]. Hymenophore smooth, greyish-orange (6B3), greyish-brown (6D3) to light brown [6D(4-6)], uncracked; margin thinning out, lighter than hymenophore surface, up to 1.5 mm wide, becoming indistinct and concolorous with age.

Microscopic structures.

Hyphal system dimitic, generative hyphae with clamp connections. Cortex and tomentum present. Subiculum well developed, hyphae more or less regularly arranged, interwoven. Skeletal hyphae dominant, thick-walled, pale yellow, unbranched and septate, flexuous, 3-6 µm in diam. Generative hyphae hyaline, thin- to slightly thick-walled, rarely branched and septate, 2-4 µm in diam. Lamprocystidia abundant, large, subulate, distinctly thick-walled, arising from subhymenium, 100-280 × 8-20 µm, projecting up to 200 µm beyond hymenium. Basidia clavate, with a basal clamp and four sterigmata, 45-70 × 9-13 µm; basidioles dominating in hymenium, in shape similar to basidia, but smaller. Basidiospores ellipsoid, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth, containing a large guttule, IKI–, CB–, 11-14 × (6 –)6.5– 8 µm, L = 12.6 µm, W = 7.1 µm, Q = 1.75-1.79 (n = 60/2).

Additional specimens examined.

CHINA. Gansu Province: Pingliang County, Kongtongshan Forest park, on fallen trunk of Euonymus maackii , 3 Aug 2015, He 2401 (BJFC 020855); on dead angiosperm branch, 3 Aug 2015, He 2408 (BJFC 020862); Tianshui County, Dangchuan Forest Farm, on construction wood, 8 Aug 2015, He 2510 (BJFC 020963). Hebei Province: Xinglong County, Wulingshan Nature Reserve, on fallen angiosperm branch, 2 Sep 2017, He 5005 (BJFC). Ningxia Autonomous Region: Jingyuan County, Liupanshan Forest Park, on dead angiosperm trunk, 4 Aug 2015, He 2424 (BJFC 020877) & He 2438 (BJFC 020891).

Remarks.

Lopharia sinensis belongs to the L. cinerascens clade (Fig. 1). It differs from L. mirabilis by its smooth hymenophore surface and north temperate distribution and from L. cinerascens by its ellipsoid basidiospores and long, projecting cystidia ( Hjortstam and Ryvarden 1990, Dai 2002). Lopharia pseudocinerascens from Africa also belongs to the L. cinerascens group and can be distinguished from L. sinensis by narrower basidiospores (8-14 × 4.5-6.5 µm, Boidin and Gilles 2002).

Six species of Lopharia , L. ayresii , L. cinerascens , L. resupinata , L. mirabilis , L. sinensis and Lopharia sp. (FP-105043) are included in a fully supported monophyletic clade (Fig. 1). They all develop the large encrusted cystidia, the large basidia (> 50 µm long) and the relatively large basidiospores (> 8 µm long and 4 µm wide) that characterise the genus. Lopharia mirabilis , the generic type, is a tropical species possessing a tuberculate, odontoid, irpicoid to semiporoid hymenophore ( Hjortstam and Ryvarden 1990, Dai 2002). The authors’ phylogenetic analyses show that collections from temperate to tropical areas in China, with smooth to semiporoid hymenophores, cluster together, thus extending the geographical range and hymenophore variability for L. mirabilis (Figs 1, 5). Thus, specimens from Taiwan, previously identified as L. cinerascens ( Boidin and Gilles 2002, Wu 2010) because of their smooth hymenophore, are in fact L. mirabilis .

Lopharia cinerascens is a cosmopolitan species in temperate to subtropical areas ( Hjortstam and Ryvarden 1990, Boidin and Gilles 2002). These phylogenetic analyses suggest that it is a species complex (Fig. 1). Two specimens (He 2188 and He 2228, Fig. 2F) from Wisconsin in northern United States are probably L. cinerascens s.s. for it is near the type locality of Pennsylvania. They are phylogenetically distinct from FP-105043 (listed as L. cinerascens in Justo and Hibbett, 2011) which was collected in Mississippi, southern United States.

Lopharia ayresii nests within the Lopharia clade and forms with L. resupinata a strongly supported lineage sister to the L. mirabilis group (Fig. 1). These two species have resupinate basidiocarps, a monomitic hyphal system, a thin to indistinct subiculum and a thickened subhymenium. Otherwise, they fit well with other Lopharia spe cies in developing large basidia and basidiospores and encrusted cystidia. The addition of these species requires that the genus description of Lopharia be modified to include monomitic taxa.

It is still premature to make a conclusion about the distribution of Lopharia species with present data. Three species, L. pseudocinerascens , L. sinensis and L. resupinata , have been found from the type localities only ( Boidin and Gilles 2002, present study). Lopharia mirabilis is reported from tropical Africa to temperate to tropical East Asia ( Hjortstam and Ryvarden 1990, present study). Lopharia ayresii seems to be pantropical and is reported from Mauritius, Réunion ( Boidin and Gilles 1991), southern China ( Wu 2008), Taiwan ( Wu 2010), Okinawa ( Maekawa et al. 2003) and South America ( Hjortstam et al. 2005, Hjortstam and Ryvarden 2008).