Cortinarius pakistanicus A. Naseer & A. N. Khalid, 2020

Naseer, Arooj, Garrido-Benavent, Isaac, Khan, Junaid, Ballara, Josep, Mahiques, Rafael, Khalid, Abdul Nasir & Sher, Hassan, 2020, Cortinarius pakistanicus and C. pseudotorvus: two new species in oak forests in the Pakistan Himalayas, MycoKeys 74, pp. 91-108 : 96

Cortinarius pakistanicus A. Naseer & A. N. Khalid sp. nov. Figure 3

Diagnosis.

Cortinarius pakistanicus is an oak-associated species that forms small basidiomata, with campanulate to obtusely umbonate, slightly hygrophanous, dark reddish to brownish pilei with margins first incurved and with whitish veil traces; lamellae are fairly distant, first pale brown and later dark brown, with edges lighter and fimbriate; stipes slender, cylindrical to slightly fusiform, hollow, with a barely fibrillose surface, lilaceous towards the apex and whitish-tomentose towards the base, the remaining brown to dark brown with age and without annular traces; it produces amygdaliform, profusely and coarsely verrucose basidiospores measuring 8.6 × 5.5 µm, and shows cylindrical to narrowly utriform marginal cells.

Type.

Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Swat, Toa, Alpuri forests, 34°51'51.2"N, 72°39'48.0"E, 2800 m a.s.l., on soil under Quercus oblongata , leg. Arooj Naseer & Abdul Nasir Khalid, 1 August 2018, AST332 (LAH36366).

Etymology.

The epithet " pakistanicus " refers to Pakistan, where the species was collected.

Description.

Basidiomata small sized. Pilei campanulate to umbonate, 2 to 3.3 cm in diameter, with margins first incurved, and then involute when mature, slightly hygrophanous; cuticle dark reddish to brownish (7.6 YR 3.6/5.8) with lighter brown tinges (1.6Y 6.6/3) towards the margin, fibrillose, and margins fimbriate. Lamellae medium spaced to fairly distant, emarginate, serrate to undulate, broad, first pale brown and later dark brown (4.7 YR 1.8/2.7). Stipe clavate to cylindrical, straight to curved, 5-9 cm long, 0.5-1 cm thick, slightly tapering towards the apex, which is about 0.3-0.7 cm, hollow; surface longitudinally striate, lilaceous towards the apex, and brown (1.8Y 6.6/2.7) to dark brown (7.6 YR 3.6/5.8) with age, base whitish (7.2GY 8.4/0.7). Context of pileus and stipe the same color as the cuticle. Smell distinct, earth-like and taste not recorded.

Basidiospores thin-walled, ellipsoid, [90/6/3] (7.8-) 7.9-9.4 (-9.8) × (4.7-) 4.9-6.3 (-6.2) μm in size, avl × avw = 8.62 × 5.56 μm, non-amyloid. Basidia clavate, 27.38 × 7.81 μm, 4-spored, clamped at the base, hyaline in 5% KOH. Scant cellular elements in lamellar pleura cylindrical to narrowly utriform 30-35 × 5-8 µm, clamped at the base. Pileipellis duplex; epicutis composed of individual hyphae 3-4 µm in diameter, clamped at septa, and with clavate to cylindrical terminal ends.

Ecology.

Gregarious; growing in mountainous pure oak forests of Quercus oblongata at an altitude greater than 2000 m a.s.l. The soil pH ranged between 6-8.4.

Additional material examined.

Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Swat, Toa, Alpuri forests, 34°51'51.2"N, 72°39'48.0"E, 2800 m a.s.l., on soil under Quercus oblongata , leg. Arooj Naseer & Abdul Nasir Khalid, 6 August 2016, AST132 (LAH36367); Swat, Matta, Shawar Valley, 34°58'59.8"N, 72°19'36.5"E, 2100 m a.s.l., solitary on ground under Quercus oblongata , 14 July 2015, Arooj Naseer & Abdul Nasir Khalid, ASSW58 (LAH35227).

Figures

Figure 3. The new species Cortinarius pakistanicus, AST 332 (LAH 36366, holotype). A-D Basidiomata E-G Basidiospores observed with the SEM technique. Photo: A. Naseer (A-D). Scale bars: 5 µm (E), 2 µm (F), 1 µm (G).