Marasmius bekolacongoli Beeli, Bull. Soc. R. Bot. Belg.

Shay, Jackie E., Desjardin, Dennis E., Perry, Brian A., Grace, Chris L. & Newman, Danny S., 2017, Biodiversity and phylogeny of Marasmius (Agaricales, Basidiomycota) from Madagascar, Phytotaxa 292 (2), pp. 101-149 : 126-128

20. Marasmius bekolacongoli Beeli, Bull. Soc. R. Bot. Belg. 60(2): 157. 1928. ( Fig. 12 , Plate 4 )

Type:— DR CONGO. Equateur Province, Eala, October 1923, M. Goossens–Fontana 204 ( BR 11406–57).

Description:—Macromorphological features derived from a photograph and dried material. Pileus 85 mm diam, obtusely conical; disc rugulose; margin sulcate; surface dry, glabrous; striped, disc brown to violaceous brown, sulcae pinkish-violaceous brown, ridges pale cream to buff. Context thin. Lamellae adnexed, distant (15), cream, non-marginate. Stipe about 120 × 10 mm, central, cylindrical; surface longitudinally ridged; cream to tan or pale brown. Odor and taste not distinctive.

Basidiospores (21.6–) 24–29.4 × (3.2–) 4–6.4 μm [x m = 26.05 ± 2.19 × 5.17 ± 0.98 μm; Q = 3.5–7.5; Q m = 5.24 ± 1.41, n = 25, s = 1], clavate, smooth, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled. Basidia not observed. Basidioles 35–42.4 × 8–11.2 μm, clavate, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled. Cheilocystidia few, 18.4–26.4 × 8–12 μm, clavate to broadly clavate or cylindrical, smooth, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled. Pleurocystidia absent. Pileipellis not mottled, a hymeniform layer of Globulares - type cells; main body 14.4–28 × 9.6–16 μm, clavate to broadly clavate, pyriform or subglobose, smooth, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled. Pileus trama interwoven; hyphae 3.2–16 μm diam, cylindrical to inflated, smooth, hyaline to pale light brown, dextrinoid, thin-walled. Lamellar trama regular; hyphae 3.2–16 μm diam, cylindrical to inflated, smooth, hyaline, dextrinoid, thin-walled. Stipe tissue monomitic; cortical hyphae 3.2–8.8 μm diam, parallel, cylindrical, yellowish brown, dextrinoid, thick-walled; medullary hyphae 2.4–10.4 μm diam, parallel, cylindrical, pale yellowish, inamyloid, thick-walled. Caulocystidia absent. Clamp connections present.

Habit, habitat and known distribution:—Solitary on undetermined dicotyledonous debris. Africa ( Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe), Madagascar.

Material examined:— MADAGASCAR.Region Vatovavy-Fitovinany,District Ifanadiana,Commune Ranomafana, February 2013, T. Lockwood 2131638 ( SFSU).

Notes:—The single specimen from Madagascar (Lockwood 2131638) matches nicely the descriptions of African material ( Singer 1965, Pegler 1977, Antonín 2007), although the basidiospores are slightly longer. Our specimen has a violaceous brown and cream striped pileus 85 mm diam, a large (120 × 10 mm) cream longitudinally ridged stipe, basidiospores in the range 24–29.6 × 4–6.4 μm, no pleurocystidia, clavate cheilocystidia, Globulares - type pileipellis cells, no caulocystidia, and growth in leafy debris. African M. bekolacongoli are reported to have basidiospores 17.5– 26 × 3.8–5.4 μm ( Antonín 2007), otherwise the morphology is indistinguishable from Lockwood 2131638. Because of the basidiospore size, the Madagascar specimen would key to M. camerunensis Antonín & Mossebo , but the latter has a smaller, non-striped pileus lacking violaceous tones, and a smaller stipe (40–70 × 4–6 mm) and grows on woody debris ( Antonín 2007). Only a single basidiome of M. bekolacongoli was collected and photographed by Taylor Lockwood. An ITS sequence of this specimen ( KX 148982) formed a weakly supported clade with other members of sect. Globulares plus M. coarctatus (sect. Sicci , ser. Spinulosi) ( Fig. 1b ).

The following four series were formally described within Sect. Sicci Singer , but because they represent nonmonophyletic lineages (see Results above) they are herein informally placed in Sect. Globulares for pragmatic reasons; no formal transfers are implied.

Figures

FIGURE 1a. Maximum likelihood phylogeny based on ITS sequence data. Marasmius from Madagascar are indicated in bold type.Values separated by / refer to nonparametric ML bootstrap proportions and Bayesian posterior probabilities, respectively. Values greater than 70/0.70 are shown (- designates a value below 70% or below 0.70). Nodes receiving support values greater than 90/0.95 are represented by bold branches. G—sect. Globulares; N—sect. Neosessiles; SA—sect. Sicci ser. Atrorubentes; SL—sect. Sicci ser. Leonini; SH—sect. Sicci ser. Haematocephali.

PLATE 4. Basidiocarps representing sect. Marasmius subsect. Sicciformes. a) Marasmius madagascariensis (JES 225); sect. Globulares b) Marasmius bekolacongoli (Lockwood 2131638), photo generously donated by Taylor Lockwood. Scale bar = 10 mm (a); 20 mm (b). Photography by D.S. Newman.

FIGURE 12. Marasmius bekolacongoli (Lockwood 2131638) a) basidiospores; b) basidioles; c) cheilocystidia; d) pileipellis cells. Scale bar = 10 μm. Illustrated by J.E. Shay.