Clavaria diverticulata A.N.M. Furtado & M.A. Neves, 2016

Furtado, Ariadne N. M., Daniëls, Pablo P. & Neves, Maria Alice, 2016, New species and new records of Clavariaceae (Agaricales) from Brazil, Phytotaxa 253 (1), pp. 1-26 : 2-5

Clavaria diverticulata A.N.M. Furtado & M.A. Neves , sp. nov.

MB 816056

Diagnosis:—This species is characterized by a coralloid, light yellow to greenish yellow basidiomata, with cylindric irregular branches, divided 2−4 times; oblong hyaline basidiospores (6.0−8.0 × 3.0−5.0 μm); basidia secondarily septate with one or more septa, clampless, 4-sterigmate; context with clampless hyphae of three types: inflated hyphae (7.0−12 μm wide), with oleaginous contents; noninflated (1.5−6.0 μm wide) secondarily septate hyphae; and diverticulate hyphae with intraparietal pigment slightly yellow, spiraled

Etymology:—The name refers to the diverticulate hyphae located in the context of the branches and stipe.

Holotype:— BRAZIL. Rio Grande do Sul: São Francisco de Paula, Floresta Nacional de São Francisco de Paula (FLONA), 29º22'58"S, 50º22'32"W, 12 April 2014, A.C. Magnago 1044 (FLOR 56317).

Basidiomata ( Fig. 1a ) 4.0− 6.5 cm tall, solitary to caespitose, light yellow (1A4) to greenish yellow (1B8), drying pale yellow (4A3); branches 2.0−4.0 mm wide, smooth, cylindric, irregular, divided 2−4 times, branching polychotomous below and dichotomous above, internodes diminishing gradually; axils U-shaped, apex subacute to blunt; basidiomata branched from the base. Context concolorous with external surface, solid, rather tough; taste and smell absent.

Basidiospores ( Fig. 2a ) 6.0−8.0 × 3.0−5.0 μm (Q=1.73), oblong, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, uniguttulate, sometimes multiguttulate, inamyloid; hilar appendage 1.0 μm long. Basidia ( Fig. 2b ) 49−57 × 9.0−12 μm, clavate, becoming secondarily septate with one or more septa, clampless; 4-sterigmate 5.0−8.0 μm long. Cystidia absent. Hymenium ≤ 65 μm thick and thickening upwards, absent in stipe. Subhymenium ≤ 87 μm thick; hyphae 6.5−8.0 μm wide, short, loosely interwoven, clampless. Context ( Fig. 2 cde) consisting of parallel hyphae, clampless, of three types: a) inflated hyphae 7.0−12 μm wide, sometimes with oleaginous contents; b) noninflated hyphae 1.5−6.0 μm wide, secondarily septate, thin-walled to slightly thick-walled, with intraperietal pigments slightly yellow and c) diverticulate hyphae (acanthohyphae) frequent, 2.5−15 μm wide, thin-walled, with intraparietal pigment slightly yellow, spiraled and projecting up to 2 μm from the surface.

Habitat and distribution:—On soil among litter in Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze moist forest. Known only from the type locality.

Remarks:—Based on the clampless basidia, Clavaria diverticulata is included in subgenus Clavaria ( Corner 1950, 1970). Clavulinopsis corniculata (Shaeff.) Corner and Ramariopsis crocea (Pers.) Corner are similar to Clavaria diverticulata but both lack the diverticulate hyphae and the incrustations on the inner wall of hyphae in the context. Furthermore, the basidiospores in Clavulinopsis corniculata are globose, and in Ramariopsis crocea they are subglobose and nodulose ( Corner 1950). Clavaria pumanquensis Lazo shares the branched basidiomata and has the same sized basidiospores (5.5−8.5 × 3.5−5.0 μm), but it is creamy white to yellowish pink and has bisporic basidia ( Lazo 1972). Macroscopically, Ca. diverticulata could be mistaken as a non-stipitate variety of Clavaria martiniii Corner , which was described from Panama ( Corner 1967b, 1970). Both species have basidiospores of the same size (5.5−7.0 × 3.0−3.7 μm), and a context that lacks gloeohyphae and diverticulate hyphae however, Ca. martinii has cristate, subfasciculate apices, and basidiospores with a shorter hilar appendage (up to 0.5 μm long) with intraparietal pigment. Additionally, Ca. diverticulata has secondarily septate basidia that are not present in Ca. martinii . The presence of diverticulate hyphae has not been described for Clavaria by other authors (e.g., Burt 1922; Corner 1957, 1967a, 1967b; Petersen 1964; Kautmanová et al. 2012; Birkebak et al. 2013). This morphological feature could have taxonomic significance for the genus and we suggest that related species should always be checked for this character which we consider to be diagnostic for Ca. diverticulata .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Photographs of basidiomata in the field. a Clavaria diverticulata (ACM 1044); b. Ca. fragilis (ACM 1041); c. Ca. fumosa (ACM 598); d. Ca. gibbsiae (ANMF 484); e. Ca. subglobosa (MAN 732); f. Ca. zollingeri (ANMF 365); g. Clavulinopsis amoena (KEL 21); h. Cs. aurantiocinnabarina (ANMF 382); i. Cs. dimorphica (ACM 1051); j. Cs. helvola (KEL 34); k. Cs. imperata (ANMF 482); l. Cs. laeticolor (ANMF 495); m. Cs. spiralis (MAN 1077); n. Ramariopsis kunzei (ACM 596). Bars = 1.0 cm. Photographs by Altielys C. Magnago (A, B, C, I, N) and Raquel Friedrich (G).

FIGURE 2. Microcharacters of Clavaria diverticulata (ACM 1044). a. Basidiospores; b. Basidia; c. Hyphae with oleaginous contents; d. Hyphae from the context; diverticulate hyphae with intraparietal pigments and secondarily septate; e. Diverticulate hyphae. Bars = 10 μm.