Physarum karamanicum Eroğlu, 2023

Eroğlu, Gönül, 2023, A new species of Physarum (Physaraceae) from Turkey, Phytotaxa 618 (1), pp. 99-102 : 100

Physarum karamanicum Eroğlu , sp. nov. Fig. 1

MycoBank no.: MB 848092

Etymology: —referring to Karaman where the specimens were collected.

Description:— Sporocarps in small groups, stalked, 0.5–0.6 mm total height. Sporotheca greenish-gray, globose, 0.3– 0.4 mm in diam. Stalk the same thickness everywhere, roughened, rugose, calcareous, brittle, light brown at the bottom, and the remainder is yellowish-cream colored, one-half of or more of the total height of the sporocarp. Hypothallus light brown, vascular. Columella short, same color as the stalk, light clavate. Peridium consists of a single layer, membranous, greenish-gray, covered pale greenish yellow with prominent lime deposits. Capillitium densely reticulates, nodes triangular, convex quadrilateral, or rounded, filled with pale greenish yellow globose lime granules, internodes colorless, long, and non-calcareous. Spores dark brown in mass, brown under LM, globose, 8–10 μm diam., and prominent spiny warts, with the ornamentation formed by groups of blunt warts in some places. Plasmodium unknown.

Type: — TURKEY. Karaman: Sarıveliler , 36°41′35.82″N, 32°32′14.95″E, 1641m, on living barks of Cedrus libani A. Richard , 14 November 2015, GE 94 (Holotype KONF GE 94 ; Isotype KONF 688 ) .

Distribution: —Found on living barks of C. libani cultured in a moist chamber only from Karaman, Sarıveliler.

Key to Physarum karamanicum and related species (Adapted from the Physarum genus key by Stephenson (2021)).

1. Sporangium stalked, stalk usually clearly defined and supporting the sporotheca ............................................................................2

1. Sporangium typically sessile but sometimes with a weak, strand-like stalk.................................................................... P. albescens

2. Stalk relatively long, usually more than three times the diameter of the sporotheca.........................................................................3

2. Stalk relatively short, often no more than about the diameter of the sporotheca ...............................................................................4

3. Stalk erect, non-calcareous, usually dark brown below and pale yellow above .................................................................... P. viride

3. Stalk slender, calcareous, pale yellow ................................................................................................................................ P. tenerum

4. Sporangia white, rarely pale gray; nodes white........................................................................................................... P. globuliferum

4. Sporangia not white, pale gray, and nodes then usually yellow .........................................................................................................5

5. Columella absent, capillitium nodes small, rounded, abundant .............................................................................. P. auripigmentum

5. Columella present, capillitium nodes triangle, convex quadrilateral and rounded ................................................... P. karamanicum

Figures

FIGURE 1. Physarum karamanicum (holotype): A,B,C. Sporocarp (SM), D,E. Sporocarp and columella (SM), F. Peridium (LM), G,H. Capillitium and spores (LM), I. Spores (LM), J,K. Capillitium and spores (SEM), L,M. Spores (SEM).