Licea rugosa Nann.

Baba, Hayri & Sevindik, Mustafa, 2022, Myxomycetes diversity in Adana Province (Turkey) with two new records, Phytotaxa 547 (1), pp. 31-42 : 38

Licea rugosa Nann. -Bremek. & Y. Yamam. ( Fig. 3 ) (new record)

Description:— Sporophores sporangiate, scattered, stalked, irregularly subglobose wrinkled, sometimes angular, dull, dark brown or black, up to 0.3 mm tall and up to 0.15 mm diam. Sporotheca irregularly subglobose, wrinkled, dull, dark brown or black, up to 0.15 mm diam. Hypothallus absent. Stalk 50% or more of the total height, very stout, only slightly narrower than the sporotheca, rugose, dull black, ochraceous-brown, filled with refuse matter. Peridium greybrown, thin, papillose, obscured by an outer gelatinous layer containing particles, dehiscing into irregular fragments above and persistent lobes below. Spore-mass nearly black. Spores free, dark brown, olive brown with a pale area, 12–15 µm diam., smooth, globose, subglobose, wall thick with a thin area.

Specimens examined:— Adana, Ceyhan on bark, moist chamber, 37° 01’ N- 35° 48’ E, 30 m, 24 Feb.2021, Baba 98, 102 . Adana, Yüreğir on bark, moist chamber, 36° 54’ N- 35° 25’ E, 11 m, 4 June 2019, Baba 41 .

Distribution:— Germany, Japan, Mexico.

Comments:— The stalked sporocarp with wrinkled peridia differs from L. pedicellata and L. erecta in that it has dark brown, smooth spores with a thick wall showing a paler thin area. ( Neubert et al. 1993). The sporotheca are globose when wet but very wrinkled when dry, with prominent ridges. The spores are similar to those of L. parasitica (11–13(–16) µm diam.), but the thinner area is less pronounced and the spores were completely smooth even when examined by SEM. The wrinkled sporotheca breaking into platelets instead of the lid of L. parasitica easily avoids any confusion even with sessile specimens. The plasmodium, visible in moist chamber cultures, is thick dull brown and appears as a continuous sludge on the bark surface like many large protoplasmodia combined. The original description of L. rugosa differentiated it from L. pedicellata on the basis of spore colour being dark brown and the smooth spores ( De Basanta & Lado 2005).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Licea rugosa. a, b. Sporangium. c, d. Irregular fragments of peridium and spores.