Stromatolinea grisea K. Habib & Q. R. Li 2024, sp. nov.

Stromatolinea grisea K. Habib & Q. R. Li sp. nov. Fig. 2 Type. • China, Guizhou Province, Xishui Country, Changjian Gully, (28 ° 19 ' 58 ″ N, 106 ° 11 ' 50 ″ E), altitude: 1,180 m, subtropical forest, on dead culms of Phyllostachys sp., 27 December 2023, Xin Zhou, R- 17, (Holotype, GMB 4512; ex-type, GMBC 4512; isotype, KUN-HKAS 133213). Etymology. The epithet “ grisea ” refers to the grey color of pseudostromata. Description. Saprobic on dead culms of Phyllostachys sp., forming black parallel elongate ascostromata on the host, surrounded by grey patches like pseudostromata. Pseudostromata grey, spreading between stromata and across the host surface. Sexual morph: Stromata 2–15 mm long, 400–800 μm wide, 400–600 μm high, parallel elongate, inconsistent in thickness, thin in between, fusiform, solitary to confluent, non-slit, black, exposing black ostioles. Upper cells of stromata near the perithecial ostiole black, thick-walled. Stromatic tissue yellow above and white between / below perithecia, compact. Ascomata 250–420 μm wide, 260–450 μm high, perithecial, 2–5 per stromata, usually 2 or 3 per stromata, immersed in stromata, globose to subglobose, ostiolate centrally, with a neck, opening to outer surface, 80–100 × 35–60 μm, slight erumpent over stromata, appearing as black shinny spots. Peridium 15–30 μm thick, cell elongate, texture angularis, outer thick layer dark brown, inner hyaline, surrounded by yellow stromatic tissue. Hamathecium paraphyses, filiform hyaline, 50–73 × 1–3.2 μm. Asci 50–95 × 5.5–9.8 μm (x ̄ = 73 × 6.2 μm, n = 30), 8 - spored, unitunicate, clavate, with a long and thin pedicel, apically rounded to truncate, J- apical ring. Ascospores 5.8–8.2 × 1.4–2 μm (x ̄ = 7.5 × 1.6 μm, n = 30), allantoid, aseptate, straight to slightly curved, rounded at both ends, subhyaline, single oil droplets in both ends. Asexual morph: Undetermined. Culture characteristics. Ascospores germinating on PDA within 24 hours, colonies on PDA, white when young, became pale, thinning toward the edge, white from above, reverse pale, no pigmentation, and no sporulation produced on the PDA medium. Addition material examined. • China, Guizhou Province, Xishui Country, Changjian Gully, (28 ° 19 ' 56 ″ N, 106 ° 11 ' 48 ″ E), altitude: 1,180 m, subtropical forest, on dead culms of Phyllostachys sp., 2 January 2024, Lili Liu & Yan Lin, R- 200 (GMB 4508). Notes. It is morphologically similar to Stromatolinea hydei and S. xishuiensis but can be easily distinguished by the appearance of stromata and pseudostromata color. The pseudostromata of the latter two species are black, whereas grey in S. grisea. The stromata of S. hydei and S. xishuiensis are consistent in thickness and possess frequent ascomata, whereas the stromata of S. grisea are inconsistent in thickness, thin in between, and possess usually 2 or 3 ascomata. Moreover, stromatic tissue is yellow above and white between or below perithecia in S. grisea, while it is completely yellow in S. hydei and S. xishuiensis. The comparison of ITS sequences revealed 94 % and 98 % similarity to S. hydei and S. xishuiensis, respectively, while TUB 2 sequences displayed 93 % and 94 % similarity to S. hydei and S. xishuiensis, respectively. Differentiation from other known species of the genus is discussed in the note section of the below described species.