Psilocybe aff. fasciata Hongo, J. Jap. Bot.

Ma, Tao, Ling, Xiao-Fei & Hyde, Kevin D., 2016, Species of Psilocybe (Hymenogastraceae) from Yunnan, southwest China, Phytotaxa 284 (3), pp. 181-193 : 189-191

Psilocybe aff. fasciata Hongo, J. Jap. Bot. 32: 144, 1957 ( Figs. 2 , 5 )

Pileus 1.5–2 mm diameter, about 10 mm high, conic to hemispheric-campanulate, with a small acute papilla or umbo, hygrophanous, dark yellowish brown to ochre-brown/chestnut brown (5C6-5D8) and whitish at margin, with somewhat olive tinge when young, mixed with blackish blue when touching and drying, fading to pale brown, sometimes with reddish brown tone; surface smooth, translucently striate when moist; margin decorated with somewhat fugacious, whitish to blackish blue, minute fibrillose veil remnants. Lamellae adnate to sinuate, subclose to subdistant, earth yellow (5A5) to greyish purple (11E3) with irregularly dark and pale mottles, blackish blue tinge during drying or when handled; edges serrulate and remaining whitish. Stipe 57–65 mm × 2–2.5 mm, equal, subbulbous at base, slightly flexuous, yellowish to yellowish brown or brown, somewhat with blackish blue tinge when touched or on drying; surface longitudinally striate and covered with appressed whitish pruinose-fibrils, shiny when dry; annulus absent; context hollow and fragile. Odour with somewhat fresh grassy smell.

Pileipellis an ixocutis, 15–90 μm thick, made up of creeping, interwoven, 2–6 μm wide filamentous to slender tubular hyphae, hyaline and colourless, sometimes with loops; subpileipellis yellowish brown to brown in KOH, composed of tubular to inflated, 4–22 μm wide hyphae. Subhymenium subcellular, hyaline, composed of irregular vesiculose to polygonal or subglobose cells. Hymenophoral trama regular, with cylindrical hyphae 3–10 μm diameter, hyaline, colourless to dark yellowish, sometimes with dark blue pigmentation in mature specimens. Basidia 20–24 × 6.5–9 μm, hyaline and colourless, nearly cylindric to clavate, 4-spored; sterigmata 2–4 μm long. Basidiospores (101/3/1) 9–11 (–14) × 5–6.5 (–7.5) × 5–6.5 (–7) μm, ellipsoid to elongate-ellipsoid, hexagonal-ellipsoid, sometimes subrhomboid/subovoid in face view, Q = 1.6–1.9 (–2.1), Q = 1.78±0.12; ellipsoid to elongate-ellipsoid in side view, Q = (1.5–) 1.6–1.9 (–2), Q = 1.77±0.10, yellowish brown with a purple tinge in water, dark yellowish to yellowish brown in KOH, dark purplish brown in deposit; wall-smoothed, slightly thick (0.5–1 μm), with 0.8–1.5 μm wide apical germ pore. Cheilocystidia 19–31.5 × 4.5–8 μm, hyaline, sometimes with dark blue pigmentation, lageniform to fusiform, with a 1–2 μm wide neck, sometimes forked, occasionally with a septa, apex acute or obtuse and often with a thickened wall or containing some matter. Pleurocystidia absent. Caulocystidia 21–30 (–38) × 6.5–9 (–10) μm, solitary or clustered at the upper part of the stipe, similar to cheilocystidia, but relatively broader, with 1–2 μm wide neck, apex often with a thickened wall or containing some matter. Clamp connections common in all parts of the basidioma.

Distribution:—Known only from Japan ( Hongo, 1957) and China (Guangxi, Hongkong, and Yunnan ( Mao 1998, 2000, Bau & Sarentoya 2009). This is a new record for Yunnan.

Habitat: — Growing scattered to gregarious on soil in grasslands near dung (at the edge of forest).

Material examined:— CHINA, Yunnan Province: Dehong Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Mangshi, Heihelaopo Natural Scenic District, E98°35´58.1”, N24°13´34.4”, 2638m, 22 September 2011, Tao Ma, Xiao-Fei Ling MS007 (IFRD415224).

Note: — Psilocybe aff. fasciata from Yunnan is characterized by its yellowish brown to ochre-brown and olive brown pileus, the ellipsoid to subovoid basidiospores of medium size (9–11 × 5–6.5 μm in face view), the lageniform to fusiform cheilocystidia with a slender neck, and lack of pleurocystidia. Psilocybe fasciata was described from Japan by Hongo (1957) who described it with a ‘olivaceo-brunneo (“oliue-brown” vel “clove brown”)’pileus, 9.5–11 × 5–6 μm, ellipsoid to slightly ovoid spores, ventricose cheilocystidia and with a slender neck. The specimen from Yunnan mostly conforms with the characters of P. fasciata , and the sequence clustered together in the phylogenetic tree with significant BS support, but low pp value. The loop structure of hyphae in the pileipellis, the blue pigmentation of cheilocystidia and hymenophoral trama, and the small acute papilla of the pileus in the Yunnan specimen, was not recorded in the original description of P. fasciata .

Phylogenetically, P. fasciata is closely related with P. stuntzii , P. semilanceata . and P. hispanica . In appearance, it is somewhat similar to P. stuntzii Guzmán & J. Ott in the colour and form of the basidiocarp, as well as some microscopic features, but the annulus, the form of the spores and the habitat separate these two species ( Guzmán 1983, Noordeloos 2011). Psilocybe fasciata is easily differentiated from P. semilanceata and P. hispanica Guzmán by its macro- and microscopic features ( Guzmán 1983, 2000, Noordeloos 2011).

Hongo (1957) related P. fasciata to Psilocybe caerulipes (Peck) Sacc. , but the latter has smaller basidiospores (7–) 8.2–9.9 (–11) × 3.8–5.5 (–6) × 3.8–5 μm, and grows on rotten wood or debris in hardwood forests ( Guzmán 1983, Singer and Smith 1958). Psilocybe fasciata is somewhat similar to P. fimetaria (P.D. Orton) Watling and P. subfimetaria Guzmán & A.H. Sm. because of the form of the basidiocarp, but it can easily be distinguished by its smaller basidia and basidiospores, and absent of annulus, as well as the growing on dung habitat of the latter two species ( Guzmán 1983, Noordeloos 2011).

Psilocybe fasciata was considered a synonym of Psilocybe venenata (S. Imai) Imazeki & Hongo by Guzmán (1983), but the latter has an annulus, so we treat them as two species ( Hongo 1957, Mao 2000, Bau & Sarentoya 2009).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Basidiomata of Psilocybe species. A–G: Psilocybe keralensis, A, E: IFRD415173, B: IFRD415174, C–D: IFRD414040, F–G: IFRD414213; H, L: Psilocybe aff. fasciata, IFRD415224; I–K, M–N: Psilocybe ruiliensis, I–J: IFRD415243, K, N: holotype, IFRD415241, M: IFRD415240.

FIGURE 5. Psilocybe aff. fasciata (IFRD415224),A: Pileipellis, B: Cheilocystidia, C: Basidia, D: Basidiospores, E: Caulocystidia. Scale bar = 10 μm.