Tulostoma beccarianum Bres., in Petri, Ann. Mycol. 2(5): 413. 1904.

Jeppson, Mikael, Altes, Alberto, Moreno, Gabriel, Nilsson, R. Henrik, Yolanda Loarce,, Bustos, Alfredo de & Larsson, Ellen, 2017, Unexpected high species diversity among European stalked puffballs - a contribution to the phylogeny and taxonomy of the genus Tulostoma (Agaricales), MycoKeys 21, pp. 33-88 : 42

Tulostoma beccarianum Bres., in Petri, Ann. Mycol. 2(5): 413. 1904. Figure 2a

Holotype.

ITALY, Pisa: Beccari (S!)*.

The holotype material of T. beccarianum , described in 1904, was sequenced in this study. Identical sequences were obtained from recently collected material from Hungary, Slovakia, and Spain. The species was given a detailed description by Altés and Moreno (1993) based on the holotype. The newly collected samples have rather large and stout basidiomata, spore-sacs measuring up to 22 mm in diameter, and a stem reaching 120 mm. The exoperidium is indistinct or hyphal, and the endoperidium is smooth, dirty white-greyish, with a circular, shortly raised mouth. The stem base is widened and forms a volva-like structure. The capillitial septa are slightly widened. The capillitium seems to break up easily at the septa, leaving segments with somewhat widened, rounded ends. The type material shows irregular, undulating inner walls of the capillitium, a character that is also noted in the recently collected material. The spores are irregularly verrucose, 4-5 µm, av. 4.5 µm, ornamentation excluded (Figure 2a) and agree with those of the holotype (4.7-6 µm, ornamentation included; Altés and Moreno 1993). The synonymisation of T. beccarianum with T. simulans , as proposed by Altés and Moreno (1993), was contradicted by the molecular analyses. The name T. beccarianum has apparently sometimes been misapplied for T. simulans (syn. T. moravecii ). Tulostoma sp. 19 includes a single collection from Cyprus, with more or less identical morphology. It is currently treated as an undescribed species until more material becomes available.

Habitat and distribution.

In semi-shaded to exposed localities in dry grasslands (Hungary and Slovakia) and halophytic vegetation on sand (Spain). Apparently a very rare species.

Other specimens examined.

HUNGARY, Bács-Kiskun: Kiskunhalas, 19 Jan. 2014, P. Finy 2 (GB)*. SLOVAKIA, Košice: Borša, 15 Jan. 2014, M. Lazon, P. Brůžek 140115-1 (GB)*; Ibidem, P. Brůžek 140115-2 (GB)*. SPAIN, Castellón: Oropesa del Mar, bajo Artemisia gallica , 30 Sept. 1976, G. Moreno (AH 1376)*; Cabanes, arenas marítimas (albufera) con Artemisia sp. y musgos, 10 Nov. 1990, G. Moreno, A. Burguete (AH 12953).