ERs TAS OE RERUN AY a? oF yy Ute ie nah usr y f AER Vig Sa os) RRS YR ioset DBRS Mee ae si ee si ‘ is be ea ar i rae As S . ie aa nop ey se Ta Be oe aa , NA a oA + fa. y's aortas i OR A Nk reat ee ee eee = one Pe Ti UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA CHAMPAIGN ve *L.BIOLOGY SUL 11 198° ee a ee ee ee a oD 27 ee _— any ee Se a a - ie ay mee aan a 2 - _ _ — _ i : 7 _ : 7 = o i ee 7 - A 1 E cri" ‘ ‘ : a oe 1 i: a Me : ; Ps 1 ¢ ae > oa 1 As -_ A ‘ oy = a J or a ; ne | ry, : ad . : ot ee — ee i rie LEE, gt es & iolog y "FIELDIANA Botany Published by Field Museum of Natural History Volume 38, No. 4 October 14, 1976 Acutocapillitium, a New Genus in the Lycoperdaceae PATRICIO PONCE DE LEON ASSOCIATE CURATOR CRYPTOGAMIC HERBARIUM FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY The generic name Bovistoides, created by Lloyd (1919), was based on the character of the capillitium thread of a single specimen sent to him from South Africa. Lloyd stated that this was a new type of capillitium, distinguished from that of Disciseda Czernaiew by its short, simple thread with acute ends. After comparing the capillitium of the Lloyd type of Bovistoides simplex (Lloyd cat. no. 32447) with that of other specimens of Disciseda, I found no real differences, and in my opinion this speci- men is a Disciseda, as listed by Ainsworth (1971), probably D. mini- mum Dring from Africa. In 1922, Lloyd established the species Bovistoides torrendii for a specimen sent him from Brazil, based on its single capillitium thread with acute ends, although the plant differed from his Bovistoides simplex in all other characters, including habitat. In 1974, I received for identification some Puerto Rican material that included a specimen of Lycoperdaceae (taken from a termite nest) with a single capillitium thread with acute ends. The speci- mens from Puerto Rico and Brazil are quite similar in characters and habitat, with slight differences only in the peridia and spores, but neither has any of the characters of Disciseda. It therefore appears that a new genus is necessary to accomodate these two species. The generic name Bovistoides cannot be used, as it is based on a misidentification and its type species must be put into synonymy with Disciseda. The characters of B. torrendii do not correspond with those of the genus Bovistoides based on B. simplex. The specific epithet, however, is retained. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 75-25180 US ISSN 0015-0746 The Library of the Nov. 09 1976 Uutvel SIty or Hanwis at Urbana- -Champaign Publication 1237 23 10] oa eo 216 Be ey 24 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 38 CHICAGO NATURAL}; | | | | HISTORY MUSEUM | inches NEGATIVE NO. centimeters 542 9h perl | 4° Fic. 1. Type of Bovistoides simplex Lloyd. The new material was also compared with the type specimen of Bovistina atrogleba Long & Stouffer (1941), described as having a simple capillitium with acute ends. However, their material also appears to belong in the genus Disciseda. Acutocapillitium gen. nov. Type species of the genus: Bovistoides torrendii Lloyd [= A. tor- rendii (Lloyd) P. Ponce] Myc. Notes 66: 1116 (pl. 197, f. 2108-9). 1922. Type specimen: Torrend s.n., Brazil (Lloyd cat. no. 32448) (BPI). Basidiocarp epigeic, globose, sessile, 4-6 cm. in diameter, peridia double; exoperidia velutinous, smooth or with polygonal warts, glabrous or villous, white; endoperidia firm; dehiscence irregular; gleba dark, powdery; subgleba none; capillitium simple, straight, tapering to both ends; spores globose, not pedicellate, smooth or spinose. Habitat: On stumps or termite nests. Only two species known in tropical America (Brazil and Puerto Rico). PONCE DE LEON: ACUTOCAPILLITIUM 25 Fructificationes lignicolae, globosae; peridium duplex; exoperidium velutinum laeve vel polygonato-areolatum, cremeum; endoperidium firmum, irregulariter reptum dehiscens; gleba pulveracea, fusca; subgleba nulla; capillitium simplex, rectum, acuminatum ad ambos apices; sporae globosae, pedicellis nullis, laeves vel spinosae. Species aut nidis termitum incola, aut lignicola. Taxonomic position of the genus: The two peridia and the pulverulent gleba with a well-developed capillitium place this genus in the Lycoperdaceae. By the absence of the subgleba it appears to be related to Bovista Persoon. Al- though the endoperidium is rigid, its microscopic structure is like that of Lycoperdon Persoon and Bovista, and not that of Sclero- derma Persoon. The exoperidium has hairs of irregular cells as does that of some Lycoperdons and some Morganellas. The irregular dehiscence of the peridia resembles that of some Bovistas. There is no similarity to the opening of the peridia of the Lycoperdons, the Calvatias, or the Discisedas. The lignaceous habit is found only in Lycoperdon pyriforme Persoon, the genus Morganella Zeller, and Bovista acuminata (Bosc) Kreisel, although Acutocapillitium does not appear to be directly related to either of them. Acutocapillitium torrendii (Lloyd) P. Ponce, comb. nov. Bovistoides torrendii Lloyd, Myc. Notes. 66: 116 pl. 197, f. 2108-9. 1922. Type specimen: Torrend s.n., Brazil (Lloyd cat. no. 32448) (BPI). Basidiocarp globose, sessile, lignicolous, 3-4 cm. in diameter; peridia double, exoperidium smooth, thin, glabrous, white; endoperidium firm, rigid, brown, dehiscence by irregular rupture of the peridia; gleba dark, black in mass, with a purplish tinge, powdery; sterile base none; capillitium of simple, straight, short threads, 150 u long, brown or dark amber, 12-15 y in diameter at the thickest part, sharply tapering to both ends; spores globose, 5-6 yu in diameter, dark brown, not pedicellate, smooth or very minutely rugose. Habitat: On a stump. As Lloyd said, it is an unusual habitat for a puffball as large as this. Only Lycoperdon pyriforme, the species of the genus Morganella, and Bovista acuminata live on wood. Only one collection, from Brazil. The designation of this species as type of the genus appears logical because it has a good description, a clear illustration, and the name honors a well-known mycologist and active collector in the tropics of South America. ‘g0u0g ‘qd asuaauoz10d wnyyjidps0jndy *g “OI ‘aouod ‘qd (pAOT'T) pua.o7 wnyyndns0jnIp °Z “Ol e' |! Came e Ae eS EE Be Pa a Soy Cae aa ‘ON 3AILVDI3N + $4ayauuiyuad ni ‘ | WNASAW AYOISIH) |e oy") winasnw AHOISIH MBE a ee Se eA, ce tt | wr er tae SAILVS3N 26 Fic. 4. Capillitium and spores of Acutocapillitium portoricense P. Ponce. 27 28 FIELDIANA: BOTANY, VOLUME 38 Acutocapillitium portoricense P. Ponce, sp. nov. Fructificationes supra termitum nidum globosae; peridium duplex; exoperidium polygonato-areolatum, album; endoperidium firmum, irregulariter dehiscens, usque ad vicinitatem basis ruptum; gleba pulveracea, fusca, brunnea; subgleba nulla; capillitium simplex, rectum, acuminatum ad ambos apices 12-15 diametro, 150 longum; sporae globosae, 5-6 u diametro, brunneae, pedicello nullo, spinosae. Termitum nidis incola. Puerto Rico. Typus: Univ. Puerto Rico Collection No. 886, Holotype (UPR, F). Type specimen: Collector unknown, Hato Rey, Loiza Aldea, University of Puerto Rico Tropical Myc. Laboratory, Collection No. 886 (holotype). (UPR, F). Basidiocarp globose, sessile, 3-4 cm. in diameter; peridia double; exoperidium villous, white, with polygonal warts composed of short, pluricellular hairs converg- ing at the apices into a common tip, their cells irregular and arising from a thin, basal layer of hyphae; endoperidium firm, rigid, about 2 mm. thick, brown, con- sisting of several layers of sclerotic hyphae, dehiscence by irregular rupture of the peridia, the rupture lines running to near the base; gleba dark brown in mass, powdery; sterile base none; capillitium of simple, short threads 150 long, 12-15 in diameter in the thickest part, light brown or yellow, sharply tapering to both ends; capillitia forming cordlike filaments several threads thick, these radially disposed from the center of the basidiocarp to the endoperidium; spores globose, 5-6 pin diameter, light brown, not pedicellate, spinose. This material was collected on a termite nest; under one of the specimens there still remains a portion of this structure. Only one collection, consisting of three specimens on the same substratum, from Puerto Rico. REFERENCES AHMAD, S. 1950. Morphology of Disciseda cervina. Mycologia, 42, pp. 148-160. AINSWORTH, G. C. 1971. Dictionary of the Fungi. Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew, Surrey. COKER, W.C. and J. N. COUCH 1928. The Gasteromycetes of the Eastern United States and Canada. 195 pp. Univ. North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, N.C. CUNNINGHAM, G. H. 1942. The Gasteromycetes of Australia and New Zealand. Dunedin, N.Z. pp. I-XV, 1-236; plates I-XXXVII. DENNIS, R. W. G. 1935. Some West Indian Gasteromycetes, Kew Bull., 8, pp. 307-328. PONCE DE LEON: ACUTOCAPILLITIUM 29 FISCHER, E. 1933. Gasteromycetae, in Engler & Prantl, Pflanzenf., 2(7a), pp. 65-67. KREISEL, H. 1967. Monographie der Gattung Bovista. Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia, 25. (6. Phytogenetischer Teil), pp. 198-207. KREISEL, H. and D. M. DRING 1967. An emendation of the genus Morganella Zeller, in Feddes Repert., 74(2), pp. 109-122, t. land IT. LLoyD, C.G. 1903. Catastoma. Myc. Notes, 13, pp. 121-123. 1919. Bovistoides. Myc. Notes, 61, p. 883, pl. 127, f. 1517-18. 1922. Bovistoides. Myc. Notes, 66, p. 1,116, pl. 197, f. 2108-09. LONG, W. G. and D. J. STOUFFER 1941. Studies in the Gasteromycetes, II. Bovistina, a new genus. Mycologia, 33(3), pp. 270-273. MITCHEL, D.H., W.S. CHAPMAN, and G. GRIMES 1975. Studies in Disciseda (Gasteromycetes in Colorado). Mycologia, 67(3), pp. 586-596. SMARDA, F. 1958. Lycoperdaceae, Flora C.S.R., ser. B, 1, pp. 257-376. SMITH, A. H. 1951. Puffballs and their allies in Michigan. Univ. of Mich. Press, Ann Arbor. 131 pages. ZELLER, S. M. 1949. Keys to the orders, families, and genera of the Gasteromycetes. Mycologia, 41, pp. 36-58. a a |, | a aaa ia oy . % 7 a - _ ae a a a ‘ore © = oo ae ~ o sa yw coe a = Sa Saree Ry Rite 3 oo emenaiai ns: a _ . ‘iy