Licea mariae Bortnikov, 2022

Bortnikov, Fedor M., Gmoshinskiy, Vladimir I. & Novozhilov, Yuri K., 2022, Species of Licea Schrad. (Myxomycetes) in Kedrovaya Pad State Nature Biosphere Reserve (Far East, Russia), including two new species, Phytotaxa 541 (1), pp. 21-48 : 29-31

* Licea mariae Bortnikov sp. nov. Fig. 8 .

Mycobank: MB 834433

Holotype: MYX 11149, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, KPSNBR, N 43°06’45.0’’ E 131°26’48.9’’, coniferous forest, on the bark of living Abies holophylla , in mcc, pH=5.31, bark sampling 13 August 2017, mcc starting 09 February 2018, sporocarps sampling 27 April 2018, leg. Bortnikov F. M.

Paratypes: LE 327753 , KPSNBR, the same locality, and substrate sample, but mcc starting 03 October 2019, sporocarps sampling 20 December 2019, leg. Bortnikov F. M.; MYX 8202 , KPSNBR, N 43°06’08.2’’ E 131°34’04.2’’ , oak forest, on the bark of living Quercus mongolica , in mcc, bark sampling 21 July 2016, mcc starting 14 September2016, sporocarps sampling 13 October 2016, leg. Bortnikov F. M.; MYX 8203 , KPSNBR, N 43°06’08.2’’ E 131°34’04.2’’ , oak forest, on the bark of living Quercus mongolica , in mcc, bark sampling 21 July 2016, mcc starting 14 September 2016, sporocarps sampling November 2016, leg. Bortnikov F. M.; MYX 10243 , KPSNBR, N 43°05’23.8’’ E 131°28’27.4’’ , oak forest, on rotten wood, in mcc, pH=4.87, wood sampling 30 July 2017, mcc starting 11 October 2018, sporocarps sampling 22 December 2018, leg. Bortnikov F. M.; MYX 11001 , KPSNBR, N 43°05’35.1’’ E 131°33’09.7’’ , oak forest, on the bark of living Quercus mongolica , in mcc, pH=6.27, bark sampling 10 August 2017, mcc starting 09 February 2018, sporocarps sampling 18 May 2018, leg. Bortnikov F. M.; MYX 11260 , KPSNBR, N 43°05’54.8’’ E 131°33’40.7’’ , oak forest, on the bark of living Quercus mongolica , in mcc, pH=6.49, bark sampling 22 August 2017, mcc starting 09 February 2018, sporocarps sampling 11 April 2018, leg. Bortnikov F. M.

Etymology:—species is named after Maria P. Andreeva, who was a school biology teacher of the first author, as a symbol of his deep appreciation.

Description:—Sporocarps scattered or in small groups, pulvinate, approximately 0.24–0.56 × 0.20–0.37 mm in diameter (average 0.42 × 0.30), black (267). Peridium outside opaque, with inclusions of granular refuse matter, dehiscence lines concolorous but distinctive. Inner peridium smooth and glossy by reflected light, finely fibrous under SEM, moderate greenish yellow (102) to light olive (106) or light olive brown (94) by transmitted light, dehiscence lines blackish green (152) to black (267). Margins of peridial plates with evenly distributed conic thickenings about 2 µm in height. The teeth of adjacent plates connected by apexes in a way of a zipper. Dehiscence along preformed lines. Peridial plates 4 to 8. Spores brilliant yellow (83) to strong yellow (84) in mass, almost colorless or barely pigmented by transmitted light, thinner-walled on one side, globose, (13–) 14.5–16.5 (–17.5) µm in diameter (mean: 15.48, SD: 0.99, n = 94), smooth. Plasmodium not observed.

Material examined:— LOC 3 ( MYX 8202, MYX 8203), LOC 14 ( MYX 10243), LOC 22 ( MYX 11001), LOC 28 ( MYX 11149, LE 327753), LOC 38 ( MYX 11260) .

Habitat:—bark of living trees ( Quercus mongolica , Abies holophylla ) and rotten wood (in oak forest), pH: 4.87– 6.49 (n = 5).

Distribution:—known only from the type territory.

Notes:—The main distinguishing features of the new species are matte black sporocarps, large smooth spores, which are golden yellow in mass, and the peridium dehiscence by plates with zip-like junctions and conical spines on the edges.

The most morphologically similar species is L. castanea G. Lister , which also has peridium composed of plates and light-colored spores, but differs from L. mariae by the color of the peridium, which is chestnut brown (instead of black) and bears light-colored dehiscence lines, and smaller spores (8–12 μm vs. 13–17 in L. mariae ) ( Lister 1911; Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, see also Fig. 5 ). Additionally, in our specimens of L. castanea the inner peridium surface is coarser than the one of L. mariae which is finely fibrous under SEM (compare Fig. 5 I and Fig. 8 H–I ).

L. belmontiana Nann. -Bremek., L. deplanata Kowalski , and L. tuberculata G.W. Martin also have sessile sporocarps with peridium that dehisces along preformed lines and smooth spores.

However, L. belmontiana has more than two times smaller, shiny, not matte sporocarps, 0.05-0.15 mm in diameter (vs. 0.24-0.56 mm of L. mariae ), dark-brown, not golden-yellow spores, thinner peridium and irregular smooth peridial plates margins without any warts or outgrowths ( Nannenga-Bremekamp 1966). In KPSNBR we found the specimens of L. belmontiana , which correspond well to the original description ( Nannenga-Bremekamp 1966) and have evident differences from L. mariae (compare Figs. 3 and 8 ). Furthermore, they were never recorded from the same type of substrate: L. mariae was discovered on the bark of Quercus mongolicum and Abies holophylla and once on rotten wood in the oak forest, pH=4.87-6.49, whereas L. belmontiana was found on the bark of Chosenia arbutifolia with pH=7.09- 7.31.

L. deplanata differs from L. mariae by extremely flattened, not pulvinate sporocarps, peridial plate margins, decorated with several rows of gradually diminishing papillae, not huge conical outgrowths as in L. mariae (compare Fig. 8 and Kowalski 1970, Fig. 1–3 ) and smaller spores (11–13 μm vs. 13.5-17.5) ( Kowalski 1970). What is more, we have never observed L. mariae on leaf litter, which is the preferred substrate type of L. deplanata ( Kowalski 1970) .

L. tuberculata has smaller dark brown spores 10–11 μm in diameter and tuberous surface of the outer peridium layer ( Martin 1957; Lakhanpal et al. 1990).

L. punctiformis G.W. Martin and L. tenera E. Jahn have irregular dehiscence of sporocarps and golden-yellow spores in mass, which are ornamented with small spines ( Martin & Alexopoulos 1969).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Geographic location of the Kedrovaya Pad State Reserve.

FIGURE 2. Licea atricapilla (MYX10170: a, e, k; MYX11289: b; MYX11300: d; MYX: 11314: c, f–j). a–d: Sporocarps. e, f: Sporocarps under scanning electron microscope (SEM). g: Inner peridium under SEM. h: Spores by transmitted light (TL). i: Inner peridium under SEM. j, k: Spores under SEM. Scale bars: a–d = 100 µm, e–f = 50 µm, g–k = 5 µm.

FIGURE 3. Licea belmontiana (MYX11323). a–f: Sporocarps. g: Sporocarp by TL. h–k: Spores and peridium by TL. Scale bars: a–g = 50 µm, h–k = 20 µm.

FIGURE 5. Licea castanea (MYX10162: a; MYX10171: b–i). a–d: Sporocarps. e: Peridium and spores by TL. f: Spores by TL. g: Spores under SEM. h–i: Inner peridium and ornamentation of the peridial plate margins. Scale bars: a–d = 100 µm, e, f, h = 10 µm, g, i = 5 µm.

FIGURE 8. Licea mariae: holotype (MYX11149: a, b) and paratypes (MYX8203: d, h–j; MYX10243: c, e–g). a: Sporocarps. b: Disrupted sporocarp with golden-yellow spore mass. c, d: Sporocarps. e: Peridium by TL. f: Spores by TL. g: Detail of peridium by TL. h–j: Inner peridium under SEM. k: Inner peridium and spores under SEM. Scale bars: a–d = 100 µm, e = 50 µm, f, g = 20 µm, h, j, k = 10 µm, i = 2 µm.