Abstract
Background: An undescribed species of Pseudoplectania was found during an excursion in Mpumalanga.Objectives: To describe Pseudoplectania africana M.Carbone & Sochorová as a new species and to evaluate presence of crystals as a diagnostic character in Pseudoplectania.Methods: The description was based on standard macro- and microscopical methods. Presence of crystals was tested for in UV light. Phylogeny was inferred using sequencing of the LSU and ITS loci.Results: Pseudoplectania africana is characterised by shortly stipitate to sessile apothecia up to 18 mm broad, richly developed basal tomentum, ascospores with an eccentrically positioned, relatively small sheath, straight, sometimes bifurcate paraphyses, wavy to coiled external hairs and presence of large yellow crystals mainly in the hymenium and ectal excipulum. It was found on a decaying coniferous trunk. The species forms a distinct lineage in the clade with P. tasmanica and P. ericae. All of these three species exhibited presence of the large yellow crystals (sulphur yellow in UV light). No or only small hyaline crystals (whole mount blue in UV light) were found in P. nigrella, P. lignicola, P. episphagnum and P. melaena.Conclusion: The new species represents the first report of Pseudoplectania in South Africa and probably also in the whole of continental Africa. Crystals in hymenium and excipulum appear to be an important trait in Pseudoplectania taxonomy.
Highlights
Pseudoplectania Fuckel, typified by Pseudoplectania nigrella (Pers.) Fuckel, is a genus of ascomycetes belonging to the family Sarcosomataceae Kobayasi
Typical microscopical characters of the species of Pseudoplectania are globose, hyaline, usually smooth, thick-walled ascospores, operculate, inamyloid, octosporic asci arising from simple septa, presence of two types of paraphyses, medulla organised as a textura intricata, ectal excipulum with a t. globulosa or t. angularis and thick-walled, septate but unbranched hairs with blunt apex (Eckblad 1968; Donadini 1987)
Pseudoplectania africana and the two phylogenetically closest species P. tasmanica and P. ericae share an eccentrically positioned sheath, which is distinctly smaller than in P. nigrella, P. lignicola and P. melaena [compare illustrations in Glejdura et al (2015), Carbone et al (2014), Rubio et al (2013) and this paper]. Another important character shared by P. africana, P. tasmanica and P. ericae is the large yellow crystals located mainly in hymenium and ectal excipulum, appearing sulphur yellow in UV light
Summary
Pseudoplectania Fuckel, typified by Pseudoplectania nigrella (Pers.) Fuckel, is a genus of ascomycetes belonging to the family Sarcosomataceae Kobayasi. It includes species with hemispherical, cupulate to plane apothecia, which are sessile or stipitate, coloured in shades of black or brown, having the outer surface covered by brown to black hairs and reaching a size between ca. The first six species and P. sinica have already been characterised by molecular methods (Carbone et al 2014; Zhang & Zhang 2020) whilst the other four have been described only by their morphology and ecology (Calonge & Mata 2002; Iturriaga et al 2012; Carbone 2013; Glejdura et al 2015). An undescribed species of Pseudoplectania was found during an excursion in Mpumalanga
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