Pseudoplectania africana M.Carbone & Sochorová, 2022

Sochorová, Zuzana, Carbone, Matteo, Sedlářová, Michaela, Polhorský, Adam & Sochor, Michal, 2022, Pseudoplectania africana (Sarcosomataceae, Pezizales), a new species from South Africa, Bothalia (a 1) 52 (1), pp. 1-15 : 4

Pseudoplectania africana M.Carbone & Sochorová , sp. nov. ( Figures 2 , 3 , 4 A, B ).

8.3 km SSW of the NG Kerk in Sabie, 25°10’7.6”S / 30°45’49.2”E, 1480 m asl, on a decaying trunk (probably Pinus sp. ), 5 Mar. 2018, Z. Egertová (Sochorová) & M. Sochor ( PRM 954013 – holotype, TUR-A 208915 – isotype, PREM - isotype) .

Diagnosis: Differs from other Pseudoplectania species in a combination of the following characters: shortly stipitate or sessile, brown to black, sometimes olivetinged apothecia up to 18 mm in diameter, richly developed basal tomentum; smooth ascospores having an eccentrically positioned, relatively small sheath, straight, often bifurcate paraphyses, wavy to coiled external hairs and presence of large yellow crystals mainly in hymenium and ectal excipulum.

Etymology: From the Latin adjective ‘ Africanus -a -um ’, referring to the African continent.

Description: Apothecia up to 18 mm in diameter, hemispherical or cup-shaped, becoming flattened, often irregularly deformed by a mutual pressure, shortly stipitate or sessile. Hymenium smooth, shiny, brown to brownish black, in some apothecia with an olivaceous tinge. External surface tomentose, brownish black, dark- er than the hymenium, base with a richly developed black tomentum. Stipe short or lacking, up to 3 mm long and 2 mm wide, black. Flesh pale greyish, rubbery. Occurring in groups or clusters.

MycoBank MB 838266.

TYPE: SOUTH AFRICA, Mpumalanga: Ehlanzeni district ,

Ascospores in H 2 O * globose, 10.5–11.4–13 µm (n = 100); in H 2 O † globose or rarely subglobose, 9–10.7–13 µm (n = 100), Q = 1.00–1.06; in heated LACB † globose or less often subglobose, 9–10.7–13 µm (n = 100), Q = 1.00–1.08; hyaline, smooth, thick-walled, with vacuolar content, 1–4 nucleate, surrounded by an eccentrically arranged globose membranous sheath, which in its most convex part exceeds the sporal wall for up to 2 µm; de Bary bubbles induced in heated LACB; ascospores germinating with one hypha. Asci narrowly cylindrical, † 250–340 × 11–14 µm, operculate, operculum † 4.5–6 µm broad; inamyloid, 8-spored, pars sporifera † 75–83 µm when all 8 ascospores are fully developed, base flexuous, tapered, arising from simple septa. Paraphyses of two types: 1) cylindrical, apical cell † 12–29 × 2–3.5 µm, lower cells † 1–2.5 µm in diam., septate, branched, sometimes anastomosing with paraphyses of the same type or with the hymenial hairs, light brownish in the upper half; apex slightly enlarged, simple, bifurcate or less often diverticulated to lobed; some paraphyses showing short diverticula growing from the lower elements; 2) so called hymenial hairs cylindrical, measuring † 2–3 µm in diam., very light brownish, with a single septum at the base; apex straight, hooked or bent in right or obtuse angle, † 2–3 µm broad; cytoplasm in both types cyanophilic, walls cyanophobic. Crystals in hymenium very abundant, yellow, angular, cracked, sometimes very long (to over the whole thickness of hymenium), up to 60 µm wide, oriented with their long axis like the hymenium, not dissolving in KOH (40%), HCl (9%), ethanol (60%) and MLZ. Subhymenium † 25–55 µm thick, structured as a dense textura intricata with cylindrical septate hyphae. Medullary excipulum † 200–380 µm thick at flanks, formed by a slightly gelified textura intricata, hyphae cylindrical, septate, subhyaline, * 2–12 µm wide, † 1.5–6.5 µm wide, walls up to 0.8 µm thick; cytoplasm cyanophilic, walls cyanophobic. Ectal excipulum † 40–120 µm thick, composed of a textura globulosaangularis, cells thick-walled, in the inner layer subhyaline, † (7)12–24 × (5)12–21 µm, in the 2–4 most external rows with blackish-brown walls, † 5–15 × 4–12 µm, walls cyanophobic; containing crystals of the same character like in hymenium, but smaller. External hairs emerging from the external layer of the ectal excipulum, cylindrical, † ca. 500–3000 µm long, 5–8(–10) µm diam., with walls up to 1.5 µm thick, septate, wavy or coiled; brown, unbranched, with blunt apex. Many very small hairs, up to † 30 µm long, are present among the longer ones. Basal tomentum composed of very long cylindrical hairs looking similar to the external hairs, † 5–7 µm diam., walls up to 1.1 µm thick. Section in UV light – most of structures blue (subhymenium paler than hymenium, medulla and ectal excipulum), outline of ascospores whitish, external hairs and basal tomentum black, crystals sulphur yellow.

Figures

Figure 2. Pseudoplectania africana – apothecia in situ (PRM 954013). Photos: Z. Sochorová.

Figure 3. Pseudoplectania africana – microscopical characters (PRM 954013); A, section of an apothecium († in tap water); B, crystals in hymenium (in tap water); C, crystal freely floating in the mount (in tap water); D, asci with ascospores and paraphyses († in tap water); E, free ascospores (†in tap water); F, ascospore with de Bary bubble († stained with LACB);G, nuclei in ascospores (†stained with DAPI); H, two types of paraphyses († in tap water); I, J, hymenial hairs († in tap water); K, bifurcate paraphyse († in tap water); L, ectal excipulum († in tap water); M, medullary excipulum († in tap water); N, external hairs († in tap water); O, basal tomentum († in tap water). Scale bars: A = 100 µm; B, N = 50 µm, C–M, O = 10 µm. Photos: A–F, H–O, Z. Sochorová; G, M. Sedlárová.

Figure 4. Pseudoplectania spp. – crystals and appearance in UV light; A,B, P. africana (PRM 954013) – sections in UV light; C,E,H, P. ericae – C, section in UV light (PRM 954125); E, crystals in hymenium (PRM 954124, in tap water); H, crystals in ectal excipulum (PRM 954124, in tap water); D, F, G, P. tasmanica (MCVE 27583); D, section in UV light; F, crystals in hymenium (in tap water); G, section of the apothecium (in tap water). Scale bars: A–D, G = 100 µm; E, F, H = 10 µm