Nemania camelliae Y.H. Pi & Q.R. Li, 2021

Nemania camelliae Y.H. Pi & Q.R. Li sp. nov.

Fig. 2 View Figure 2

Etymology.

Refers to the host genus name, camellia.

Material examined.

China, Guizhou Province, Tongren City, Fanjingshan Nature Reserve ( 27°47'11.41"N, 108°43'43.90"E, altitude: 515 m), on dead wood of Camellia sp., 15 October 2020, Y.H. Pi, 2020FJS26 (GMB0068, holotype; GMBC0068, ex-type living culture; KUN-HKAS 112689, isotype) GoogleMaps .

Description.

Saprobic on the surface of decaying wood of Camellia sp. Sexual morph: Stromata pulvinate to effused-pulvinate, rarely perithecioid, orbicular to irregularly elongated, often coalescent; single distribution or confluent into irregularly elongated compound stromata, 1.5-4 mm long × 1-2 mm wide × 0.5-1 mm high, surface dull black, hard-textured, with inconspicuous to moderately exposed perithecial contours and usually sloping margins, internally black between ascomata, carbonaceous; subperithecial tissue black, conspicuous; does not release a coloured pigment in 10% KOH. Perithecia 0.65-0.95 mm diam. × 0.65-0.7 mm high, subglobose to depressed-spherical. Ostioles finely papillate, black, conspicuously sunken in a shallow discoid depression; ostiolar area blackish, shiny, frequently flattened. Asci 180-290 × 6-11 μm (av. = 230 × 7.5 μm, n = 30), 8-spored, unitunicate, long-cylindrical, long-stipitate, the spore-bearing parts 80-95 µm long, apically rounded with a J+, apical apparatus, 2-3 × 2.5-4 µm (av. = 2.5 × 3 µm, n = 30), jar shape. Ascospores 10-14 × 4.5-7 μm (av. = 12 × 5.5 μm, n = 30), uniseriate, unicellular, ellipsoid to slightly fusoid, inequilateral, with slightly narrow rounded ends, smooth, brown to dark brown, with a fairly conspicuous, straight, almost spore-length germ slit on the least convex side; lacking a sheath and appendage; perispore indehiscent in 10% KOH. Asexual morph: Undetermined.

Culture characteristics.

The colony grows on PDA medium with a diameter of 6 cm after one week at 25 °C; white, cottony, circular, flocculent or velvety, with light yellow to slightly yellow at the centre. Not sporulating on OA nor on PDA.

Other examined material.

CHINA, Guizhou Province, Tongren City, Fanjingshan Nature Reserve ( 27°42'10.26"N, 108°31'35.34"E, altitude: 426 m), on dead wood of Camellia sp., 16 October 2020, Y.H. Pi, 2020FJS54-1 (GMB0067), living culture, GMBC0067 GoogleMaps .

Notes.

Phylogenetic analyses showed that Nemania camelliae form a distinct clade with N. bipapillata (82% ML, 0.97 BYPP, Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). Morphologically, N. camelliae is similar to N. immersidiscus Van der Gucht et al. in having a small discoid depression around the ostiolar papilla. However, the stromata of N. camelliae are entirely carbonaceous, whereas those of N. immersidiscus contain white soft tissue between and beneath the perithecia ( Ju and Rogers 2002). Moreover, N. immersidiscus has slightly thinner ascospores [(10-)11-14(-16) × (4-)4.5-5.5 µm)].