Arecophila gaofengensis X. Zhou, K. Habib & Q. R. Li 2024, sp. nov.

Arecophila gaofengensis X. Zhou, K. Habib & Q. R. Li sp. nov. Fig. 4 Etymology. The specific epithet “ gaofengensis ” refers to the geographical location, Gaofeng Village, where the holotype specimen was collected. Type. China • Guizhou Province, Anshun City, Pingba District, Gaofeng Town, 26 ° 33 ' 96.54 " N, 106 ° 54 ' 20.37 " E, altitude: 1250 m, on dead culms of bamboo, 30 October 2023, Yulin Ren, 2023 GFZ 15 (GMB 4541, holotype; GMBC 4541, ex-type); ibid KUN-HKAS 134920, isotype. Description. Saprobic on the surface of dead bamboo culms, forming black round spots. Sexual morph: Ascomata 400–600 µm high, 600–900 µm diam, globose to subglobose, solitary, scattered, sometimes gregarious, immersed beneath blackened clypeus; clypeus well developed, black, coriaceous, ostiole at the center, weakly papillate. Peridium 13–20 μm wide, composed of thick walled, hyaline to brown cells, texture angularis. Paraphyses 2–3 µm (x ̄ = 2.6 µm, n = 20) wide, hyaline, numerous, filamentous, branched, septate. Asci 126–210 × 10–13.5 µm (x ̄ = 165 × 12.5 µm, n = 20), 8 - spored, unitunicate, long-cylindrical, short-pedicellate, with a J +, trapezoidal shape apical ring, bluing in Melzer’s reagent, 2.2–3.4 μm high, 3.6–4.2 μm diam. Ascospores 19–24.5 × 7–9.5 µm (x ̄ = 21.6 × 7.8 µm, n = 30), uniseriate, fusiform, brown, 1 - septate, septate at the center, slightly constricted septum, tapering at the ends, with longitudinal and sulcate striations, covered with a thick mucilaginous sheath measuring 3–8 µm (x ̄ = 6.3 µm, n = 10). Asexual morph: Undetermined. Culture characteristics. Ascospores germinating on PDA within 36 hours and germ tubes produced from upper cells. Colonies growing fast on PDA, reaching 2 cm in 1 week at 28 ° C, effuse, velvety to hairy, nearly circular, irregular at the margin, white from above, pale yellowish white from below. Mycelium immersed in the media, composed of branched, septate, smooth-walled, hyaline, hyphae. Paratype. China • Guizhou Province, Anshun City, Pingba District, Gaofeng Town, 26 ° 33 ' 95.44 " N, 106 ° 54 ' 30.27 " E, altitude: 1250 m, on dead culms of bamboo, 30 October 2023, Yulin Ren, 2023 GFZ 530 (GMB 4559; paratype; GMBC 4559, ex-paratype). Notes. In the phylogram (Fig. 1), Arecophila gaofengensis formed a sister branch with A. xishuangbannaensis L. S. Han & D. Q. Dai with a low bootstrap values (69 / 0.86 ML / BI, Fig. 1). Arecophila gaofengensis differs from A. xishuangbannaensis by its smaller ascospores (19–24.5 × 7–9.5 µm vs. 23–27 × 8.5–9.5 μm) and smaller asci (126–210 × 10–13.5 µm vs. 180–270 × 12–14 μm) (Han et al. 2024). The analysis of ITS sequences for these two species reveals a sequence length of 471 base pairs, with a 92.8 % similarity, and a 2.1 % gap presence, indicating 437 matching positions. Morphologically, the new taxon is close to A. bambusae, but can be distinguished from A. bambusae by having larger asci (126–210 × 10.3–13.7 µm vs. 132.5–140 × 7.5–8 µm) and wider ascospores (19–24.5 × 7.1–9.5 µm vs. 19–22.5 × 5.5–7 µm) (Umali et al. 1999). Morphologically, the new species also resembles A. muroiana (I. Hino & Katum.) You Z. Wang et al. However, clypeus is absent in A. muroiana (Li et al. 2022), while blackened clypeus was observed in A. gaofengensis. So, here we introduced it as a new species of Arecophila.