Colipila, a new genus in the Helotiales

Abstract

Colipila, a new member of the Helotiales, is erected for two previously undescribed lignicolous species resembling Dasyscyphella and Lachnum by macroscopy. Species of Colipila are characterized by their long, entirely smooth, hyaline, thin-walled, multiseptate, subulate to basally fusoid hairs that tend to be curved on the stipe and lower flanks, and dimorphic, partly strongly protruding paraphyses which closely resemble the hairs. The type species, C. masduguana, is recorded repeatedly in southern France on rotten decorticated branches and trunks of Castanea sativa on the moist forest floor in sub-Mediterranean regions with siliceous soils, but also once on Quercus robur in a temperate forest with calcareous soil. The second species, C. pilatensis, was found on wood of an unidentified member of Rosaceae in a calcareous region of the Northern Alps and is known only from the holotype. The phylogenetic position of C. masduguana within the Helotiales was not resolved based on the analysis of nuclear LSU ribosomal DNA sequences. A key to the species of Colipila is provided.

Elucidation of the life cycle of a saprotrophic inoperculate discomycete that is associated with pinesap, using a polyphasic taxonomic approach#

“…In addition, even the morphology of the inoperculate discomycetes has since then undergone a rather revolutionary development, since Hans-Otto Baral and other workers started to use the so-called “Vital Taxonomy” to characterize these fungi over 40 years ago (cf. Baral 1992 and some examples for treatments of Helotiales by Baral et al 2012; 2013 and Quijada et al 2014). While these studies have certainly provided a lot of new evidence about the diversity of this largely neglected, yet ecologically interesting and highly important group of Ascomycota , there are some major drawbacks.…”