Tulostoma hungaricum Finy, Jeppson, L. Albert, Oelvedi & Dima, 2023

Finy, Peter, Jeppson, Mikael, Knapp, Daniel G., Papp, Viktor, Albert, Laszlo, Oelvedi, Istvan, Boka, Karoly, Varga, Dora, Kovacs, Gabor M. & Dima, Balint, 2023, Exploring diversity within the genus Tulostoma (Basidiomycota, Agaricales) in the Pannonian sandy steppe: four fascinating novel species from Hungary, MycoKeys 100, pp. 153-170 : 153

Tulostoma hungaricum Finy, Jeppson, L. Albert, Oelvedi & Dima sp. nov.

Fig. 4

Holotype.

Hungary, Bács-Kiskun, Bócsa, open sandy grassland, on sandy sites with scattered vegetation, near Juniperus communis shrubs 24 Jan 2021, P. Finy, FP-2021-01-24a (BP112641, isotype GB). GenBank: ITS OR722630, LSUOR722653.

Etymology.

With reference to Hungary where it was discovered.

Description.

Spore-sac subglobose, 3-6 mm. Exoperidium hyphal, heavily encrusting sand grains. Endoperidium white, pitted from adhering sand grains. Mouth small, fibrillose- fimbriate with a small and inconspicuous mouth. Socket inconspicuous. Stem slender, 9-15 × 1-1.5 mm, whitish, not bulbous. Gleba ochraceous brown. Capillitium elastic, 2-6 µm in diameter with walls 0.5-2 µm in diameter and moderate branching. Septa in general not widened. Basidiospores subglobose, 4.9-5.7 × 4.5-5.1 µm (av. 5.2 × 4.8 µm), varied in size, with fine, but visible ornamentation. SEM-photos show low verrucae coalescing in short lines.

Habitat and distribution.

Tulostoma hungaricum occurs in the calcareous, sandy steppe areas, in dry and exposed habitats on bare sand. It has, to date, been found on the sheltered and sun-exposed, extremely warm sandy spots on the south-facing sides of Juniperus communis . So far, it has only been found in few localities of the Kiskunság National Park, Central Hungary.

Notes.

Tulostoma hungaricum is the smallest Tulostoma species in Europe. It sometimes shares its habitat with T. pannonicum , another species forming small basidiomata. The latter is, however, easily distinguished on its ochraceous stem, membranous exoperidium and smaller spores. Tulostoma hungaricum is an isolated species belonging to the well-supported Clade 7 according to Jeppson et al. (2017), together with T. submembranaceum from Mexico, T. cf. submembranaceum from Spain and the below-described new species T. sacchariolens . In the ITS region, T. hungaricum differs from its closest species ( T. submembranaceum , see Fig. 1 ) by almost 90 substitution and indel positions, which is a similarity of 87%. Low intraspecific genetic variability was observed in T. hungaricum by a difference of 0-3 substitution and indel positions.

Specimens examined.

Hungary, Bács-Kiskun, Kéleshalom, open sandy grassland, near Juniperus communis , 2 Jan 2022, P. Finy, I. Ölvedi, L. Albert, FP- 2022-01-02-2 (ELTE); Orgovány, open sandy grassland, near Juniperus communis , 23 Nov 2019, P. Finy, I. Ölvedi, L. Albert, FP- 2019-11-23 (ELTE); Ibidem, open sandy grassland, near Juniperus communis , 19 Feb 2021, P. Finy, I. Ölvedi, L. Albert, FP- 2021-02-19 (ELTE) .

Morphologically examined specimens.

Hungary, Bács-Kiskun, Bócsa, open sandy grassland, near Juniperus communis , 3 Dec 2022, P. Finy, I. Ölvedi, L. Albert, FP-2022-12-03 (herb. Finy); Fülöpháza, open sandy grassland, near Juniperus communis , 14 Jan 2023, P. Finy, I. Ölvedi, L. Albert, FP-2023-01-14 (herb. Finy); Pest, Tatárszentgyörgy, open sandy grassland, near Juniperus communis , 17 Dec 2022, I. Ölvedi, OP-2022-12-17 (herb. Ölvedi).

Figures

Figure 1. Habitats of Tulostoma species in Hungary: a T. hungaricum in Orgovany b T. sacchariolens in Orgovany c T. dunense in Izsak (Soltszentimre) d T. shaihuludii in Izsak (Soltszentimre). Photos: P. Finy.

Figure 4. Tulostoma hungaricum: a, c-g FP- 2021 - 01 - 24 a (BP 112641, holotype), Bocsa b FP- 2019 - 11 - 23, Orgovany a-c basidiocarps d, e basidiospores f, g capillitium with basidiospores. Scale bars: 1 µm (d); 10 µm (e); 20 µm (f, g). Photos: a, b, e-g P. Finy c L. Albert d K. Boka.