Cribraria lepida Meyl.

Baba, Hayri & Sevindik, Mustafa, 2022, Myxomycetes diversity in Adana Province (Turkey) with two new records, Phytotaxa 547 (1), pp. 31-42 : 36-37

Cribraria lepida Meyl. ( Fig. 2 ) (new locality)

Description:— Sporophores stalked, scattered. Sporothecae erect or nodding, deep purple or violet-purple, 0.3–0.4 mm diam., spherical or slightly pyriform. Stalk up to 6–8 times the diameter of the sporotheca and usually 80–90% of the total height, dark purple, black, opaque in reflected light, orange-brown in transmitted light. Hypothallus thin, delicate. Peridium persists in the form of threads and a cup, contains dark purple granules up to 1–1.5 µm in diameter. Calyculus 25–35% of the sporotheca diameter, with a shallow calyculus occupying approximately one third of the diameter of the sporotheca, finely dotted with calcic granules, the upper margin scalloped giving rise at the points to a fine net with a few thickened pulvinate nodes. The cup is purple, small, sometimes flat, saucer-shaped, edge of the calyculus is uneven, with projections passing into a network of well developed filaments. Nodules are pillow-shaped, elongated, curved, irregular in shape, with rounded edges, filled with dictydine granules and connected by thin threads. Peridial net with small, flat, rounded or angular nodes which are usually <30 µm diam., flat, containing a single layer of calcic granules. Spore-mass violet. Spores spherical, pale lilaceous, densely verruculose, densely and minutely warted or smooth, 6–7 µm diam.

Specimen examined:— Adana, Karaisalı on bark, moist chamber technique, 37° 15’ N- 35° 03’ E, 270 m, 24 Feb. 2021, Baba 30 .

Distribution:— Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, Germany, Hawaii, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey (Karaman), USA.

Comments:— Cribraria lepida differs from the closely related species C. violacea in size and shape of the calyculus, the structure of the network of threads, and shape of the nodules. The latter has a deep cup-shaped calyculus, taking from 1/2 to 2/3 of the sporotheca, nodules large, flat, angular. Spores of C. violacea in transmitted light are lilac, and more brightly coloured than those of C. lepida . Examination of samples of C. lepida and C. violacea with a binocular microscope reveals that these species are similar only in colouration of sporocarps and differ greatly in shape and structure of peridium and sporotheca. ( Ejale & Gill 1991, Vlasenko et al. 2016). C. lepida has the habit of C. languescens and the colour of C. violacea and the spore size is given as 5–6 µm ( Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, Neubert et al. 1993). From the red-brown to purple-brown C. languescens already distinguishes the colour. C. violacea is smaller, usually ovoid, the network nodes are more than 50 µm in diameter, the cup takes up half or more of the sporocarps. C. elegans is red-violet, the total height remains below 2 mm, the granulation is coarser ( Neubert et al. 1993). It differs from C. violacea in that it has a much shallower calyculus and has numerous thickened nodes, not a few flat nodes on the peridial net ( Estrada-Torres et al. 2009, Ramírez-Ortega et al. 2017).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Cribraria lepida. a, b. Sporangium. c. Stalk, sporotheca, calyculus, dictydine granules and spores. d. Nodules, dictydine granules and spores.