Crinipellis fibrillosa S. A. Sharafudheen, Manim. & K. P. D. Latha, 2023

Sharafudheen, Shahina A., Manimohan, Patinjareveettil & Deepna Latha, K. P., 2023, Two new species of Crinipellis (Marasmiaceae, Agaricales) from Kerala State, India, Phytotaxa 600 (4), pp. 219-229 : 225-227

Crinipellis fibrillosa S. A. Sharafudheen, Manim. & K. P. D. Latha , sp. nov. Fig. 3A–N

MycoBank no.: MB 847918

Etymology:— fibrillosa (L.) , with fibrils; refers to the fibrillose pileus surface of this species.

Diagnosis:—Differs from C. tucumanensis in having a pileus with radial rows formed by appressed fibrils, a longer stipe (up to 64 mm long), longer and narrow basidiospores (11–12 (–13) × 3–4 µm) and shorter cheilocystidia (up to 27 µm long).

Type:— INDIA. Kerala State: Thrissur District, Kalasamala sacred grove, 10°40’18.7” N 76°05’18.8” E, 10 June 2017, A. S. Shahina SA199 (holotype CALI!). GenBank accessions: nrITS: OQ617333 and nrLSU: OQ617342 .

Description:— Basidiocarps small. Pileus 5–10 mm diam., convex when young, becoming plano-convex to almost applanate with an occasional papilla visible in dried specimens under a lens; surface dark brown (7F8/OAC635) at the center, brown (7E8/OAC621) around it, reddish gray (7B2/OAC620) to grayish red (7B3/OAC634) towards the margin, with dark brown (7F8/OAC622) radially appressed fibrils, densely so at the center, often forming tufts in radial rows towards the margin and hanging from the margin; margin straight, appendiculate. Lamellae free, up to 2 mm wide, orange-white (5A2/OAC900) close; edge entire to the naked eye, finely torn under a lens, initially concolorous with the sides but in mature specimens the edge becomes dark brown (7F4/OAC737) on drying starting from the part close to the stipe and gradually spreading to the entire edge. Stipe 28–64 × 1 mm, central, terete, equal, solid; surface dark brown (6F8/OAC635), appressed-fibrillose all over; base insititious. Rhizomorphs not observed. Context very thin.

Basidiospores 11–12 (–13) × 3–4 (11.83 ± 0.47 × 3.43 ± 0.37) µm, Q = 2.75–4.0, Qm = 3.49, lanceolate, smooth, thin-walled, hyaline, inamyloid. Basidia 22.5–27 × 7–8.5 µm, clavate, 4-spored; sterigmata up to 5.5 µm long. Pleurocystidia 34–43 × 7.5–10 µm, scattered, clavate, elongate-clavate or subcylindrical, hyaline, thin- to slightly thick-walled. Lamella-edge heteromorphous. Cheilocystidia 17–27 × 4–9 µm, versiform: broadly fusiform, subcylindrical, obclavate, vesiculose or flexuous, often with a mucronate apex or bifurcating apical appendages up to 12 µm long, hyaline in young specimens, but with dark brown plasmatic pigment in mature specimens, turning greenish gray in 3% KOH, thin- to slightly thick-walled. Lamellar trama subregular; hyphae 3–17 µm wide, thin- to slightly thick-walled, hyaline, inamyloid. Pileus trama a duplex; upper half with narrow, parallelly interwoven 3–17 µm wide hyphae; lower half with inflated 32–74 × 11–22.5 µm wide, closely septate hyphae, thin- to slightly thick-walled, hyaline to pale yellow, inamyloid. Pileipellis a hypotrichium composed of closely septate, inflated hyphae giving rise to suberect terminal hairs; hypotrichial hyphae 6–13 µm wide, thin- to slightly thick-walled, hyaline or with a brownish wall pigment, turning grayish to grayish green in 3% KOH; hairs 80–555 × 4–8 µm, cylindrical or flexuous, with subacute to obtuse apices, often with septa, brown to light brown or hyaline, turning grayish to grayish green in 3% KOH, dextrinoid, thick-walled (up to 2.5 µm thick). Stipitipellis similar to the pileipellis but with narrow hypotrichial hyphae measuring 2–6 µm wide, hyaline or yellowish brown in water and 3% KOH, thick-walled (up to 1 µm thick); hairs 75–415 × 6–10.5 µm, narrowly cylindrical or at times tapering towards the apex, often branched, septate, hyaline or yellowish brown, turning grayish to grayish green in 3% KOH, thick-walled (up to 2 µm thick). Stipe trama dextrinoid. Clamp connections observed on all hyphae except at the base of basidia, cheilo- and pleurocystidia.

Habitat: — Scattered on leaf litter, partially buried in the soil.

Geographical distribution range:—Known only from the type locality in Kerala State, India.

Comments:— Crinipellis fibrillosa has a pileus with dark brown appressed fibrils, free lamellae, a lamella-edge with cheilocystidia, a hypotrichium-type pileipellis giving rise to long, thick-walled, dextrinoid hairs turning grayish to grayish green in 3% KOH and a habitat on partially buried leaf litter. An exhaustive literature survey showed that the lamella-edge of no other described species of Crinipellis turns dark brown on drying or has the greenish gray coloration of dried lamella-edge in KOH.

Crinipellis tucumanensis Singer (1976: 40) , a species originally described from Argentina ( Singer 1976), shows some similarities to C. fibrillosa in having a pileus of similar size (4–13 mm diam.), free lamellae, pleurocystidia of similar size and shape, a lamella-edge with cheilocystidia and the pileipellis hairs turning greenish in KOH. However, C. tucumanensis can be readily distinguished from C. fibrillosa as the former has a pileus lacking radial rows formed by appressed fibrils, a shorter stipe (up to 36 mm long), shorter and broader basidiospores (5.5–8.5 × 4–6 µm) and longer cheilocystidia (up to 40 µm long). Crinipellis brunneoaurantiaca Bandala, Montoya & Ryoo (in Bandala et al. 2012: 734), described from Mexico, is another species that shows the characteristic greenish color change of pileus hairs in KOH (Bandala et. al. 2012). That species shares some features such as pileus of similar size (2–9 mm diam.) and shape with an appendiculate margin, free lamellae, presence of cheilocystidia, septate pileipellis hairs and a dextrinoid stipe trama with C. fibrillosa . However, C. brunneoaurantiaca has a pileus with a conical to subacute central papilla, subdistant to distant lamellae, a shorter stipe (4–14 mm long) and a hymenium devoid of pleurocystidia.

Crinipellis fibrillosa shows some features similar to C. calderi Pegler (1966: 106) , a species described from Uganda ( Pegler 1977), in having an initially convex and finally expanded-plane pileus with hairs sparser towards the margin, basidiospores of somewhat similar size (9–11.7 × 3.2–4.5 µm), a heteromorphous lamella-edge with cheilocystidia and septate pileipellis hairs. However, C. calderi is distinct from C. fibrillosa in having a radially sulcate pileus, distant and intervenose lamellae, a shorter stipe (up to 35 mm long), lamellae devoid of pleurocystidia and hypotrichial hyphae with incrusting pigments. Crinipellis fibrillosa is also similar to C. malesiana Kerekes, Desjardin & Vikinesw. (in Kerekes & Desjardin 2009: 125), a species from Southeast Asia, having a pileus of similar size (2–13 mm diam.) and shape, a hymenium with pleuro- and cheilocystidia, and a pileipellis with hyaline or brown hyphae turning greenish in KOH. However, this species differs from C. fibrillosa in having a pileus often with one or two raised concentric ridges surrounding a central papilla and a brown to brownish orange margin, adnexed to adnate lamellae, a shorter stipe (4–22 mm long), broader (4–6.5 µm) basidiospores, longer ((11–) 21–40 µm) cheilocystidia and a stipitipellis with caulocystidia ( Kerekes & Desjardin 2009). A pairwise comparison of the nrITS sequence (NR_ 119706) of C. malesiana with that of C. fibrillosa showed only 83.59% similarity

A BLASTn search of the GenBank nucleotide database using the nrITS sequence (661 bp) of C. fibrillosa showed an unnamed Crinipellis species , Crinipellis species RAK 391 (MN930626) as the closest hit with 88.75% sequence similarity. Crinipellis pseudosplachnoides ( Hennings 1901: 47) Pat. ex Singer (1942: 510) (MK277895: 98.78%) resulted as the closest hit using nrLSU (903 bp) sequence. Crinipellis pseudosplachnoides is similar to C. fibrillosa in having a pileus with a brown center, an insititious stipe, a hymenium with cheilo- and pleurocystidia and the pileipellis hairs with septations. But C. pseudosplachnoides has a shorter stipe (up to 40 mm long), shorter and broader (6.3–10 × 3.5–5.7 µm) basidiospores and longer cheilo- (up to 45 µm long) and pleurocystidia (65 µm long) ( Pegler 1977).

Figures

FIGURE 3. A–N: Crinipellis fibrillosa (SA199 (CALI), holotype). A–C. Basidiocarps; D–F. Basidiospores; G. Basidium; H. Lamellaedge in 3% KOH; I–J. Pleurocystidia; K–L. Cheilocystidia; M. Pileipellis; N. Stipitipellis. Scale bars: A–C = 10 mm; D–G, I–L = 10 µm; H, M–N = 50 µm.