Fungalpedia – Note 152 Verrucospora
Verrucospora E. Horak
Citation if using this entry: Sysouphanthong et al. (in prep) – Fungalpedia Basidiomycota 3. Mycosphere.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Figs. 1–2
Classification: Fungi, Basidiomycota, Agaricomycotina, Agaricomycetes, Agaricales, Agaricaceae.
Verrucospora E. Horak is a small genus including two species with irregularly angular and papillate to verrucose white spores, and V. verrucispora (Beeli) E. Horak is the type species (Horak 1967). Beeli (1932) described Lepiota verrucospora Beeli from Congo, and Horak (1968) separated the species to establish the genus Verrucospora by considering of its spore shape. Oberwinkler (1976) stated that Inocybe flavofusca Henn. with olive-brown spores and yellow lamellae was identical to L. verrucospora. Horak (1968) moved L. verrucospora to Verrucospora with invalid combination [= V. verrucospora (Beeli) E. Horak]. Later, Pegler (1977), gave the new name V. vulgaris Pegler for V. verrucospora. Sysouphanthong et al. (2013) also described V. vulgaris (= V. verrucospora) with detail of the morphology and discussions. However the name V. verrucospora was named earlier than V. vulgaris, and the name V. verrucispora (Beeli) E. Horak was common used for the valid type species of the genus.
Base on the morphology, the genus had an uncertain placement e.g. Oberwinkler (1976) expected the genus should be in Agaricales or Thelephorales, Pegler (1977) placed the genus in the Agaricaceae, and Julich (1982) established a new family (Verrucosporaceae) for Verrucospora.
The molecular data of the Verrucospora flavofusca (Henn.) Jülich based on the sequences of LSU, ITS and SSU genes showed that V. flavofusca was placed in Agaricaceae (Matheny et al. 2007). However, the name V. flavofusca was given without morphological characters. Verrucospora flavofusca has olive-brown spores and yellow lamellae, and the species is clearly identical to genus Inocybe (Hennings 1902, Jülich 1982).
Verrucospora is a saprobic genus growing on deciduous forest floor of tropical region; and the type species V. verrucispora (= V. vulgaris) is characterized by greyish yellow to greenish yellow basidiomata covering with yellowish brown squamules on pileus and stipe, pastel yellow to light yellow lamellae, verrucose white spores, clavate to cylindrical cheilocystidia, absence of pleurocystidia, trichodermal pileus covering, and presence of clamp connections (Sysouphanthhong et al 2013). The distributions are in tropical Africa (Horak 1968, Pegler 1977), China (Matheny et al. 2007), and northern Thailand (Sysouphanthong et al. 2013).
Synonymy: Horakia Oberw.
Type species: Verrucospora verrucispora (Beeli) E. Horak
Other accepted species:
Verrucospora flavofusca (Henn.) Jülich
Verrucospora verrucispora (Beeli) E. Horak
Figure 1. Verrucospora verrucispora in situ. a-c= MFLU10 0640. d-e= MFLU 10-0627. f= MFLU 10-0601. g=MFLU 10-0599. h= MFLU 10-0604. Photos from Sysouphanthong et al. (2013).
Figure 2. Verrucospora verrucispora. a,c,d,e,f= MFLU 10-0640. b= MFLU 10-0599. a,b. basidiomata and a section. c. basidiospores. d. basidia. e. cheilocystidia. f. pileus covering. Scale bars: a-b= 10 mm, a-e = 10 µm. Line drawing from Sysouphanthong et al. (2013).
References
Beeli M 1932 – Fungi goossensiani IX. Genre Lepiota, Bull. Soc. Royal Bot. Belgique, 64, 206–219.
Hennings P 1902 – Fungi camerunenses novi III. Engl. Bot. Jahrb., 1902, 30, 52.
Horak E 1967 – Remarques critiques sur quelques champignons du Congo (Afrique), Ber. Schw. Bot. Ges., 77, 362–375.
Julich W 1982 – Higher taxa of Basidiomycetes, Bibliotheca Mycol., 85, 1–85.
Matheny PB, Curtis JM, Hofstetter V, Aime MC, Moncalvo J-M, Ge Z-W, Yang Z-L, Slot JC, Ammirati JF, Baroni TJ, Bougher NL, Hughes KW, Lodge DJ, Kerrigan RW, Seidl MT, Aanen DK, DeNitis M, Daniele GM, Desjardin DE, Kropp BR, Norvell LL, Parker A, Vellinga EC, Vilgalys R, Hibbett DS 2007 – Major clades of Agaricales: a multi-locus phylogenetic overview, Mycologia, 2007, 98, 984–997.
Oberwinkler F 1976 – Eine agaricoide Gattung der Thelephorales, Sydowia, 78, 359–361.
Pegler DN 1977 – A preliminary Agaric flora of East Africa, Kew Bull. Add. Ser., 6: 1–615.
Sysouphanthong P, Hyde KD, Chukeatirote E, Bahkali AH, Vellinga EC 2013 – Verrucospora vulgaris (Agaricaceae, Agaricales), a Rare Tropical Species and a New Record for Thailand. Chiang Mai Journal of Science 40(2), 289–293.
Entry by
Phongeun Sysouphanthong, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand
(Edited by Kevin D Hyde)