Thelephora dominicana Angelini, Losi & Vizzini, 2016

Vizzini, Alfredo, Angelini, Claudio, Losi, Cristiano & Ercole, Enrico, 2016, Thelephora dominicana (Basidiomycota, Thelephorales), a new species from the Dominican Republic, and preliminary notes on thelephoroid genera, Phytotaxa 265 (1), pp. 27-38 : 29-32

Thelephora dominicana Angelini, Losi & Vizzini , sp. nov. ( Fig. 3 )

Mycobank MB817082

Diagnosis: — Distinguished by small (up to 2 cm broad), solitary to concrescent, infundibuliform to spathulate basidiomes, abhymenial surface black to greyish, nearly smooth to radially wrinkled, azonate to faintly zonate, margin white; hymenial surface smooth, black, blackish brown, greyish to vinaceous grey; hyphal system monomitic, hyphae with clamps; contextual hyphae 2.8–6.4 μm wide, often cyanescent in KOH; basidia subclavate to utriform, 4-spored; basidiospores (7.8–)8.0–10.8(–11.2) × (7.2–)7.4–9.9(–10.4) μm globose to subglobose, echinulate (echinuli up to 2 μm long); cystidia and chlamydospores absent; unique LSU and ITS sequences.

Holotype:— DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Puerto Plata, Sosúa, Loc. Cemetery, on man-made litter in a deciduous forest, 21 December 2014, C. Angelini , JBSD 126510 ( JBSD!).

Etymology:—The epithet refers to the country, Dominican Republic, where this species was found.

Description:— Basidiome annual, solitary to concrescent, up to 2 cm broad and up to 6 cm high, more or less infundibuliform, sometimes deeply split on one side, spathulate or somewhat centrally stipitate (stipe up to 0.6 cm wide). Abhymenial surface minutely velutinous to tomentose, black to greyish, dirty white or sometimes with brown to pinkish tints, nearly smooth to radially wrinkled, azonate to faintly zonate. Margin thick, obtuse, sinuate or slightly lobate, white. Hymenial surface smooth, black, blackish brown, greyish to vinaceous grey. Context up to 1 cm thick, fleshy fibrous, blackish brown. Hyphal system monomitic, hyphae with clamp-connections; a few simple septa present. Contextual hyphae hyaline to medium brown, thin- to slightly thick-walled, 2.8–6.4 μm wide, often cyanescent in KOH. Surface hyphae of the stipe and towards the base of the basidiomes are pale to medium brown, finely encrusted and deeply cyanescent in KOH. Subhymenial hyphae hyaline, short and inflated, inconstantly cyanescent in KOH, thinwalled, 3.2–7.0 μm wide. Cystidia none. Basidia 42–80 × 10.4–12.8 μm, subclavate to utriform, 4-spored, hyaline, inconstantly cyanescent in KOH, sometimes with transverse septa; sterigmata up to 10 μm long. Basidiospores (70/2/2) (7.8–)8.0–10.8(–11.2) × (7.2–)7.4–9.9(–10.4) μm (not including ornamentation), globose to subglobose, echinulate (echinuli up to 2 μm long), medium to dark brown in 3% KOH and in distilled water. Chlamydospores absent.

Habit, habitat and distribution: — Solitary to concrescent, on deciduous forest litter. So far, this species has been found in the rainy autumn and winter period (December) in the coastal area around Sosúa-Puerto Plata, in a forest consisting mainly of the following tree species: Inga vera Willd. , Hura crepitans L., Mangifera indica L., Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg , Dendropanax arboreus (L.) Decne. & Planch., Andira inermis (W. Wright) DC. , Cecropia schreberiana Miq. and Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg. For detailed botanical characteristics of the collection areas, see Angelini & Losi (2013, 2014).

Of these species only Andira inermis is known to form ectomycorrhizae ( Miller et al. 2000) .

Epitype: — DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Puerto Plata, Sosúa, Loc. Cemetery, on man-made litter in a deciduous forest, 3 December 2013, C. Angelini, JBSD 126509 (JBSD!).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Thelephora dominicana. a–b Habitat (man-made deciduous forest). Sosua (P.to Plata)—Loc. Cemetery. c–d Basidiomes: c JBSD 126510 (holotype), d JBSD 126508. e–f Spores and basidia. Scale bars: c, d = 1 cm; e, f = 10 μm. Photos: 3a–d by ClaudioAngelini, 3e–f by Cristiano Losi.