Lamproderma spinisporum G. Moreno, López-Vill., A. Castillo & S.L. Stephenson, 2018

Moreno, Gabriel, Villalba, Angela López, Castillo, Aurelio & Stephenson, Steven L., 2018, Some nivicolous species of Lamproderma and Meriderma from the Himalayan Mountains of northwestern India, Phytotaxa 373 (3), pp. 221-230 : 225-226

Lamproderma spinisporum G. Moreno, López-Vill., A. Castillo & S.L. Stephenson , sp. nov. Fig. 4

MycoBank MB 824266.

Type: — INDIA. Himachal Pradesh Province: north of the city of Manali, 32°20’23.9 N, 77°13’08.2 E, 3240 m, 20 May 2006, leg. Stephenson 21197 (Holotype AH 46521).

Sporocarps shortly stalked or rarely sessile, scattered or in small groups. Sporotheca globose, 0.5–1.2 mm in diam.

Peridium single, blue iridescent, with acicular dispersed crystals and without macules, light brown in transmitted light. Stalk blackish brown, very short (less than one third of the total height of the sporotheca), cylindrical and widening at the base. Columella blackish brown, up to one half the height of the sporotheca, usually with reddish brown membranous expansions present in the upper portion of the columella. Capillitium arising along the length of the columella, canescent to the magnifying glass, formed by branched filaments, not very dense, hyaline-cream to slightly brownish, 1–2 μm in diam with hyaline and pointed free ends. Spores from specimen AH 46521: 11–12.5 ×

10.5–12 μm in diam, av. 11.8 × 11.3 μm, Q av = 1–1.04–1.09, (n = 25). Specimen AH 46525: 10.5–12.5 × (10)10.1–11.5 μm in diam, av. 11.6 × 11.2 μm, Q av = 1–1.03–1.09, (n = 25), globose to subglobose, brown-blackish in mass, brownviolet-hyaline in transmitted light, spiny with smaller groups of warts. Under SEM the spore ornamentation is the echinate type to baculate type as described by Rammeloo (1975), with an irregular distribution. Also, groups of small baculae are observed. Plasmodium unknown.

Etymology: —The epithet spinisporum (from Latin spinis = spine and spora = spore) refers to the conspicuous spines on the spores.

Habitat: —Nivicolous, on decaying herbaceous plants near the edge of melting snowbanks.

Additional specimen examined: — INDIA. Himachal Pradesh Province: north of the city of Manali, 32°20’23.9 N, 77°13’08.2 E, 3240 m, 21 May 2006, leg. Stephenson 21241 in AH 46525

Notes: —The diagnostic characters of this species are the short stalked to sessile spororocaps, the blue iridescent sporothecae with acicular dispersed crystals on the peridium, a hyaline capillitium which is not very dense and spores 10–12.5 μm in diam, with spines and smaller groups of warts.

This species can be confused with other species of Lamproderma such as Lamproderma aeneum Mar. Mey. & Poulain , which has a yellow-gold peridium without crystals, a darker capillitium and spore ornamentation formed by thicker and denser warts that are homogeneously distributed. Lamproderma pulchellum Meyl. also has a hyaline capillitium and the same spore size, but the spores are characterized by a denser ornamentation formed by small baculae without clusters of warts, and this species lacks elongated crystals on the peridium. Lamproderma spinulosporum Mar. Mey., Nowotny & Poulain shares both the spore size and the spiny ornamentation but lacks crystals in the peridium, the capillitium is darker and the spore ornamentation does not consist of groups with smaller warts. Lamproderma arcyrioides also has acicular crystals on the peridium but can be distinguished by its longer stalk and darker capillitium; moreover, the spores are warted. Lamproderma pulveratum also has a peridium covered by thick crystals and spores of a similar size, but it differs in having a spore ornamentation formed by thick warts.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Lamproderma spinisporum sp. nov. (AH 46521 holotype). a. Sporocarps, b. Detail of sporocarps and peridium, c. Sporocarp by LM, d. Details of the upper portion of the columella and capillitium (AH 46525), e–f. Spores, g. Detail of spore ornamentation. Bars: a = 1 mm, b = 0.5 mm, c = 200 μm, d = 50 μm, e–f = 2 μm, g = 1 μm.