Balsamia lishanensis L. Fan & Y.Y. Xu, 2020

Xu, Yu-Yan, Yan, Xiang-Yuan, Li, Ting & Fan, Li, 2020, A taxonomic reassessment of the genus Balsamia from China, MycoKeys 67, pp. 81-94 : 81

Balsamia lishanensis L. Fan & Y.Y. Xu sp. nov. Figure 3

Etymology.

lishanensis , Lishan Mountain, referring to the locality where the type specimen was collected.

Holotype.

China. Shanxi Province, Yuanqu County, Lishan Mountain Shunwangping Scenic Area, alt. 2300 m, 17 October 2016, in soil under Pinus armandii Franch., M. Chen CM019 (BJTC FAN676).

Ascomata subglobose to irregularly subglobose, 3-14 × 2-12 mm in fresh, reddish brown when fresh, usually with some superficial furrows, surface covered with verrucose or fine warts, warts obtuse or pointed, 270-400 μm wide and 150-300 μm high. Odor light, mushroom flavor. Gleba solid, white to cream white, with numerous irregular canals and chambers of around 1 mm width. Peridium 150-350 μm thick, two-layered, outer layer pseudoparenchymatous, 90-190 μm thick, composed of 3-5 layers of reddish brown polygonal cells with 4-6 sides, cells 15-35 × 10-27 μm, walls 4.0-8.0 μm thick, the outermost cells reddish-brown, and gradually light-yellow to hyaline towards inner side; inner layer 60-150 μm thick, composed of interwoven hyphae, that is more or less parallel to the surface of peridium, hyphae hyaline, 2.5-6.0 μm wide. Paraphyses line the surface of chamber, arranged like a fence, 3-4 × 50 μm, but disorganized in the mature ascomata, usually not well-defined. Asci 8-spored, hyaline, citriform or fusiform, 55-80 × 27-38 μm (not including stalk), inamyloid, with a slender-stalk of 13.5-35 × 5-10 μm, spores irregularly arranged in ascus. Ascospores ellipsoid, smooth, hyaline, inamyloid, 20.6-25.6 × 12.9-15 μm (av. 23.5 × 14.0 μm), Q (L/I) = 1.55-1.80 (Qm = 1.68) (n = 30), usually containing one large oil drop and several small droplets.

Other materials examined.

China. Shanxi Province, Yuanqu County, Lishan Mountain Shunwangping Scenic Area, alt. 2300m, 16 August 2016, in soil under Pinus armandii Franch., K.B. Huang HKB003 (BJTC FAN587); ibid., 16 August 2016, in soil under Pinus armandii Franch., B.D. He HBD014 (BJTC FAN 591); ibid., 17 October 2016, in soil under Pinus armandii Franch., K.B. Huang HKB039 (BJTC FAN689); ibid., 17 October 2016, in soil under Pinus armandii Franch., X.Y. Sang SXY015 (BJTC FAN697); ibid., 17 October 2016, in soil under Pinus armandii Franch., K.B. Huang HKB031 (BJTC FAN714); China. Shanxi Province, Ningwu County, Xiaoshidong Village, Guancen Mountain, alt. 2000m, 12 October 2017, in soil under Picea asperata Mast., L.J. Guo GLJ001 (BJTC FAN1010); China. Gansu Province, Bailongjiang Forestry Bureau, Seventh Forest Farm, alt. 2500m, 14 July 2002, in soil under Pinus sp., D.J. Ren & M.S. Song 02-034 (HMAS 97115).

Notes.

Balsamia lishanensis was diagnosed by the combination of reddish brown ascomata covered with fine warts, the whitish gleba with numerous small chambers open to 1 mm, 3-5 layers peridium reddish brown polygonal cells and the smooth and regular ellipsoid ascospores with one large oil drop. There are four Balsamia species similar to B. lishanensis in morphology. Of them, B. vulgaris differed by its large ascospores of (23-) 26-32 (-36) × 11.5-14 (-16) μm, Balsamia lazyana and B. trappei by their narrow ascospores, which are 19.5-27 × 8-11.5 μm in B. lazyana and 24-26 × 11.5-13.5 μm in B. trappei , B. platyspora by its short-ellipsoid ascospores of 19-22-28 × 12-13-16 μm (ca. 20 × 13 μm). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the sequences of B. lishanensis were grouped into an independent clade with strong support value (Figs 1 , 2 ). DNA analysis showed that B. lishanensis shared less than 87.19% identity in ITS sequence with other Balsamia species. These supported the erection of the new species.

Figures

Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree generated from a maximum parsimonious analysis based on 28 S sequences, showing the phylogenetic relationships of Helvellaceae. Tuber anniae and T. bellisporum are the outgroups. Maximum parsimonious bootstrap support values (≥ 70 %) and maximum likelihood bootstrap support values (≥ 70 %) are indicated above the nodes as MPBS / MLBS. Thick black branches received Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP) ≥ 0.95. Novel sequences are printed in bold.

Figure 2. Phylogenetic tree generated from Bayesian analysis based on ITS sequences, showing the phylogenetic relationships of Balsamia. Tuber anniae and T. bellisporum are the outgroups. Maximum parsimonious bootstrap support values (≥ 70 %) and maximum likelihood bootstrap support values (≥ 70 %) are indicated above the nodes as MPBS / MLBS. Thick black branches received Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP) ≥ 0.95. Novel sequences are printed in bold.

Figure 3. Balsamia lishanensis (BJTC FAN 676, holotype) a, b ascomata c warts (when fresh) d warts (when dry) e, f peridium g paraphyses h, i mature ascus j ascospores. Scale bars: 5 mm (a, b); 500 μm (c); 300 μm (d); 100 μm (e, f); 25 μm (g, h, i); 20 μm (j).