Phlegmacium paracephalixum (Bohus) Niskanen & Liimat., Fungal Divers.

Liu, Fei-Fei, Wu, Gang & Yang, Zhu L., 2023, A new species and new records of Phlegmacium (Cortinariaceae) from China based on molecular and morphological evidence, Phytotaxa 578 (2), pp. 141-157 : 152

Phlegmacium paracephalixum (Bohus) Niskanen & Liimat., Fungal Divers. 112: 149, 2022 Figs. 2E , 3E 1–E 4.

≡ Cortinarius paracephalixus Bohus, Annls hist.-nat. Mus. natn. hung. 68: 51, 1978

MycoBank: MB 559009

Description:— Pileus 4–5 cm, hemispherical to convex, always with a broad umbo when young, later flat, viscid to glutinous, very finely fibrillose, center pale orange to ochraceous yellow, whitish towards the margin. Lamellae emarginate, 3–4 mm broad, crowded (L = 100–110, l = 1–2), first whitish with a pinkish tint, then becoming brown. Stipe 12–14 cm long, 1.3–1.5 cm thick at apex, 2 cm wide at the base, cylindrical to clavate, whitish to ochraceous yellow, very finely fibrillose with white fibrillose girdles; basal mycelium white. Context white in pileus and stipe, sometimes pileus context with a reddish tint.

Basidiospores [40/2/1] (11–)12–14(–15) × 6–8 μm, av. 12.61–12.66 × 6.96–7.06 μm, Q = 1.57–1.91(–2.15), Qav. = 1.80–1.81, subamygdaliform, strongly verrucose. Basidia 35–45 × (7–)9–10(–11) μm, 4-spored, clavate, colorless to yellow, always with small granules. Cystidia absent. Lamellar trama hyphae 3–6 μm wide, colorless to yellowish, smooth. Stipe hyphae 4–7 μm wide, colorless to yellowish, sometimes spirally incrusted. Pileipellis duplex, the upper layer (120–160 μm thick) gelatinous, composed of narrow, colorless to pale yellowish, spirally incrusted, thin-walled, long-celled hyphae measuring 3–7 μm wide; lower layer composed of interwoven to parallel cylindrical, mostly amber yellow, thin-walled hyphae measuring 4–9 μm wide. Clamp connections common in all parts of basidioma.

Habitat and distribution:—Solitary to scattered on soil in a temperate forest or mixed forests with Pinaceae and Salicaceae . Summer. Currently known from Hungary ( Bohus 1976), Italy ( Campo 2015) and northeastern China (this study).

Specimen examined:— CHINA. Jilin Province: Antu County, Changbaishan , in a temperate forest, altitude 751 m, 28 August 2015, Qing Cai 1439 ( KUN-HKAS92058 ) .

Notes:— Phlegmacium paracephalixum is mainly characterized by its viscid, ochraceous yellow pileus with a wide central broad umbo when young, soon flattened, cylindrical to clavate stipe with white fibrillose girdles, and subamygdaliform basidiospores measuring (11–)12–14(–15) × 6–8 μm. The species was found in mixed forests with Pinus and Populus , and the context was white, yellowing when bruised, and later becoming slightly pink ( Campo 2015).

Based on morphological and molecular data, P. rioussetiae (Chevassut & Rob. Henry) Niskanen & Liimat. (2022: 151) is a sister species of P. paracephalixum . Some mycologists considered it a synonym of P. paracephalixum ( Brandrud 1996, Brandrud et al. 1998, Campo 2015). However, P. rioussetiae is separated from P. paracephalixum by its grayish lilac lamellae and the absence of the redness of the context ( Henry 1986).

Phlegmacium patrickense and P. rosargutum (Chevassut & Rob. Henry) Niskanen & Liimat. (2022: 151) are close relatives of P. paracephalixum . However, P. patrickense has a whitish to pale brown basidioma and larger basidiospores (12.2–14.7 × 7–8.4 μm, Q = 1.62–1.84), while P. rosargutum has a shorter stipe, more abundant universal veil remnants on the pileus surface, and smaller basidiospores (9.5–12 × 6.5–7.5 μm, Q = 1.43–1.59) ( Brandrud 1996, Liimatainen et al. 2014).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Maximum-Likelihood phylogenetic tree inferred from the ITS dataset. Bootstrap values equal to or greater than 50% and Bayesian posterior probabilities equal to or greater than 0.95 are shown along the branches. Sequences generated in this study are in blue bold face.

FIGURE 2. Basidiomata of P. ochraceosquamosum: A1–2. HKAS124256 (holotype); P. caesiocolor: B. HKAS67872; P. glaucopus: C. HKAS124253; P. kytoevuorii: D. HKAS124252; P. paracephalixum: E. HKAS92058; P. patrickense: F. HKAS124259; P. violaceorubens: G. HKAS124254. Bars = 10 mm. Photos by Jian-Wei Liu (A1–2), Qing Cai (B, E), Geng-Shen Wang (C–D), Li-Rong Liu (F), Liu-Kun Jia (G).

FIGURE 3. The basidiospores and pileipellis of P. ochraceosquamosum: A1–4. HKAS124256 (holotype); P. caesiocolor: B1–4. HKAS67872; P. glaucopus: C1–4. HKAS124253; P. kytoevuorii: D1–4. HKAS124252. (continued on the next page)