Four new species of Chlorociboria from Yunnan, China

Chlorociboria, a commonly reported saprobic genus in the Chlorociboriaceae, is characterized by discoid, blue-green, olivaceous, yellow or white apothecia, filiform or thin-clavate paraphyses, cylindric-clavate asci, and elliptic to fusiform, filiform, or allantoid, and hyaline ascospores. According to our morphological and phylogenetic studies of eight Chlorociboria collections from southwest China, four new species (C. ailaoensis, C. bannaensis, C. laojunensis and C. yulongensis) are proposed. Chlorociboria ailaoensis is identified by its blue to dark blue-green receptacles without tomentum hyphae, along with medially and basally branched paraphyses, and fusiform ascospores; C. bannaensis by its light blue receptacles lacking tomentum hyphae, black stipes, a degenerated medullary excipulum, thin-clavate and unbranched paraphyses, inamyloid asci, and ellipsoid ascospores; C. laojunensis by light blue discs, dark blue-green flanks without tomentum hyphae, medially to basally branched paraphyses, and fusiform, comparably large ascospores; C. yulongensis by olive green to dark discs, white flanks without tomentum hyphae, filiform and branched paraphyses, inamyloid asci, and elliptic to allantoid ascospores. Our phylogenetic analyses, based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the nuclear ribosomal large subunit (LSU) data of Chlorociboriaceae, strongly support the establishment of the four new species. In addition, we have provided an updated key to distinguish species of Chlorociboria.