Didymium azorellae D. Wrigley, Lado & Estrada, 2018

Treviño-Zevallos, Italo, García-Cunchillos, Iván, Basanta, Diana Wrigley De & Lado, Carlos, 2023, Diversity of Myxomycetes from Peru Part III: The high Andes and the altiplano, Phytotaxa 624 (1), pp. 1-92 : 28

58. Didymium azorellae D. Wrigley, Lado & Estrada , in Wrigley de Basanta, Estrada-Torres, García-Cunchillos, Cano & Lado, Mycologia 109(6): 996 (2018)

Specimens examined. PERU. Arequipa: Caylloma, Chivay, ctra. PE-1SE, km 60, 24 km south of Chivay , 4747 m, 15°42′41” S, 71°36′22” W, 9 Oct 2012, Azorella sp. leaf bases, (mc, 14 Jan 2013, pH 7.43), dwb 3545, Azorella sp leaf bases, (mc, 02 Nov 2013, pH 7.29), dwb 3639, Azorella sp. leaf bases, (mc, 02 Nov 2013, pH 7.14), dwb 3640. Chivay, Caylloma-Chivay community, route AR-109 towards Chivay, km 65, 4470 m, 15º42′01”S, 71º35′24”W, 23 Apr 2016, Azorella compacta , (mc, 29 Oct 2016, pH 7.44), dwb 3816, (mc, 10 Jan 2017, pH 7.38), dwb 3825. Caylloma-Chivay community, route AR-109 towards Chivay, km 58, 4823 m, 15º44′00”S, 71º35′45”W, 23 Apr 2016, Azorella compacta , (mc, 30 Nov 2016, pH 7.54), dwb 3822, (mc, 23 Nov 2016, pH 7.5), dwb 3826 .

Notes. This species was described by Wrigley de Basanta et al. (2018) from cold, arid areas of Argentina and Peru, including these collections in the description. The species has only been recorded from the moist chamber culture of the debris of cushion plants of the genus Azorella Lam. The small sporocarps with eggshell-like packed lime crystals develop inside the compact rosettes of the host plant, and they may be present in other areas following the distribution of the genus Azorella . A phylogenetic analysis showed specimens of this species were grouped in a well-supported clade (100/1), distinguishing them from the other species included in the analysis ( Wrigley de Basanta et al. 2018).