Abstract
Helvella species are ascomycetous macrofungi with saddle-shaped or cupulate apothecia. They are distributed worldwide and play an important ecological role as ectomycorrhizal symbionts. A recent multi-locus phylogenetic study of the genus suggested that the cupulate group of Helvella was in need of comprehensive revision. In this study, all the specimens of cupulate Helvella sensu lato with ribbed stipes deposited in HMAS were examined morphologically and molecularly. A four-locus phylogeny was reconstructed using partial sequences of the heat shock protein 90, nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer region 2, nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA and translation elongation factor 1-α genes. Three clades were revealed in Helvella sensu stricto. Twenty species were included in the analysis, of which 13 are distributed in China. Three new species, H. acetabuloides, H. sichuanensis and H. tianshanensis, are described and illustrated in detail. A neotype was designated for H. taiyuanensis. Helvella calycina is a new record for China, while Dissingia leucomelaena should be excluded from Chinese mycota. Hsp90 and ITS2 are recommended as useful supplementary barcodes for species identifications of the genus.
Highlights
The genus Helvella L. contains a group of ascomycetous macrofungi with saddleshaped or cupulate apothecia
Fifty-one specimens of the rib-stiped cupulate species of Helvella s. l. deposited in Herbarium Mycologicum Academiae Sinicae (HMAS) and five recent collections were examined
A total of about 28 rib-stiped cupulate species of Helvella and Dissingia have been reported in the world (Table 2) and 17 of them were investigated in this study
Summary
The genus Helvella L. contains a group of ascomycetous macrofungi with saddleshaped or cupulate apothecia. Helvella species are distributed worldwide, especially in temperate regions (Dissing 1966, Abbott and Currah 1997). Some of them are edible, for example, H. bachu Q. Yang & K.D. Hyde (Zhao et al 2016a) and H. taiyuanensis B. Du & J.Z. Cao (Liu et al 1985), and some are medicinal, for example, H. lacunosa Afzel. (Shameem et al 2016). Cao (Liu et al 1985), and some are medicinal, for example, H. lacunosa Afzel. They are important as ectomycorrhizal symbionts (Tedersoo et al 2006, Healy et al 2013, Hwang et al 2015)
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