Helvella jocatoi F. Landeros, R. Garibay-Orijel & L. Guz.

Landeros, Fidel, Ferrusca-Rico, Felipe M., Guzmán-Dávalos, Laura, Esquivel-Naranjo, Edgardo Ulises, Matías-Ferrer, Noemí, Burrola-Aguilar, Cristina, Viurcos-Martínez, Galaartemisa & Garibay-Orijel, Roberto, 2021, Helvella jocatoi sp. nov. (Pezizales, Ascomycota), a new species from H. lacunosa complex with cultural importance in central Mexico Abies religiosa forests, Phytotaxa 498 (1), pp. 1-11 : 5-8

Helvella jocatoi F. Landeros, R. Garibay-Orijel & L. Guz. -Dáv. sp. nov. Figure 3

MycoBank 839202

Etymology: jocato (Spanish), is an acronym for the first two letters of the given name and two last names of José Castillo Tovar deceased at 2012 who was a prominent Mexican mycologist and teacher of the first author; i (Latin), pertaining to, indicates the genitive case in masculine form.

FIGURE. Helvella jocatoi . A) Holotype CB08326 (MEXU 25760); B) Castro-Castro 7 (IBUG); C) Landeros 3581 (IBUG); D) Hymenium; E) Ascospores; F) Ectal excipulum cells. A), B), C) Bars: 1 cm. D), E), F) Bars: 10 µm.

Holotype:— Mexico. Estado de México: Amanalco, Corral de piedra, September 21, 2009, CB08326 ( MEXU 25760 ).

Diagnoses: Ascoma 40–160 mm high, pileus 20–60 mm, high 20–60 mm broad, with three lobes or irregularly lobed, dark gray to black. Pileus sterile surface smooth to slightly venous, white or slightly grayish. Stipe up to 120 mm high and up to 25 mm broad, cylindrical, lacunose, first white, then grayish even blackish. Ascospores 16.8–20.8 (–22) × 10.8–13 (–14) µm, hyaline. Solitary or in clusters, terrestrial or on mosses in Abies religiosa forests on the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt.

Description: Ascoma 40–160 mm high. Pileus 20–60 mm high, 20–60 mm diam, with three lobes or irregularly lobed, dark gray to black, pileus board attached to stipe. Pileus sterile surface smooth to slightly venous, white to slightly gray. Stipe up to 120 mm high, 25 mm broad, cylindric, lacunose, white to gray at first, then almost black.

Ascospores 16.8–20.8 (–22) × 10.8–13 (–14) µm, Q = 1.5–1.6, ellipsoidal, smooth when mature, hyaline, with one guttule. Asci 255–330 (–365) × 14–19 (–20) µm, not amyloid, pleurorhynchous with eight ascospores. Paraphyses cylindrical 3–6 µm wide to the half, apex 5–9 µm wide, with brown intracellular pigment. Ectal excipulum 60–80 µm, with cylindrical to narrowly clavate to clavate cells, 12–35 µm of length and 3.5–6 µm at apex. Slightly dextrinoid reaction in medullar excipulum and middle stipe tissue, others tissues are negative to Melzer’s reactive.

Habit, habitat and phenology: Epigeous, solitary or aggregated in Abies religiosa forest on the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt, on the ground or on moss during August to December.

TABLE. Comparison between H. jocatoi and closest species.

Specimens examined: Mexico, Estado de Mexico: Amanalco, San Lucas, September 21, 2009, Cristina Burrola Aguilar CB08303 ( MEXU 25752 ) ; Capilla Vieja, September 21, 2009, Cristina Burrola Aguilar CB08367 ( MEXU 25768 ) ; Corral de piedra, September 21, 2009, Cristina Burrola Aguilar CB08331 ( MEXU 25762 ) ; La Puerta, August 21, 2009, Roberto Garibay Orijel GO-2009-088 ( MEXU 26104 ) ; Las Peñas, September 02, 2009, Cristina Burrola Aguilar AR09690 ( MEXU 25874 ) ; Zinacantepec, Buenavista, August 12, 2008, Luis Antonio García Almaraz HC-PNNT-149 ( MEXU 26635 ) ; Zinacantepec, El Contadero de Matamoros , September 03, 2008, Cristina Estrada Velazquez HC-PNNT-266 ( MEXU 26701 ) . Jalisco: Ciudad Guzmán, Km 15 del camino de ascenso al Nevado de Colima, no date, Castro-Castro 7 ( IBUG) ; Nevado de Colima, camino a las antenas, October 24, 2010, Landeros 3401 ( IBUG) . Querétaro: Colón, Cerro El Zamorano, October 01, 2016, Landeros 3581 ( IBUG) .

Extralimit species specimens: Estado de México: Coatepec Harinas, July 23, 2008, Miguel Angel Pérez Villegas , HC-PNNT-059 ( MEXU 26585 ) ; Tlalmanalco, Parque Ejidal, September 06, 2009, Roberto Garibay Orijel GO-2009- 279 ( MEXU 26201 ) ; Cerro Prieto, faldas del Nevado de Toluca, October 18, 2003, LGD 9002 ( IBUG) .

Comments: Nguyen et al. (2013) pointed that the geographical region and host association were the most important traits to distinguish species within the H. lacunosa species complex. Helvella jocatoi differentiates morphologically from H. rugosa and H. sulcata by its darker and lacunose stipe, bigger ascoma and association to Abies religiosa . It is different from H. pseudolacunosa , which has whitish or grayish stipe, developing in Pinus koraiensis and Larix gmelinii forests in China ( Ariyawansa et al. 2015). While H. dryophila is associated to Quercus forests and H. vespertina to coniferous forest from western USA ( Nguyen et al. 2013), Helvella jocatoi is endemic to central Mexico associated with Abies religiosa forests on the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt. A resume of interspecific differences of closest species is shown in Table 2. All extralimital specimens from Mexico came from Pinus or mixed forest with Quercus , therefore they do not belong to H. jocatoi .