Beltrania veri D. H. Li, J. W. Xia & X. G. Zhang 2025, sp. nov.

Beltrania veri D. H. Li, J. W. Xia & X. G. Zhang sp. nov. Fig. 3 Etymology. Named after the species epithet of the host plant Cinnamomum verum. Holotype. HMAS 354000. Description. Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Setae numerous, arising from radially lobed basal cells, straight or flexuous, unbranched, single, thick-walled, coarsely verrucose, pale brown to dark brown, tapering to a pointed apex, or arising from a dark brown, swollen, radially lobed basal cell, 193–390.5 μm long, 12.0–20.8 μm in diameter. Imperfect setae single, slightly flexuous, septate, verrucose, pale brown, swollen at the base. Conidiophores macronematous, simple, thin-walled, subhyaline to pale yellow, arising from basal cells of setae, 112–182 × 4.7–5.0 µm. Conidiogenous cells polyblastic, holoblastic, integrated, determinate, terminal, geniculate, cylindrical, hyaline to subhyaline, smooth, 8.2–26.2 × 4.0–6.4 μm. Conidia arise directly from conidiogenous cells, acrogenous, biconic, aseptate, smooth, pale yellow, with distinct granules, rounded or 1 - denticulate at base, 15.5–21.5 µm (av. 18.2 ± 1.8 µm, n = 26) long including appendage, 8.0–10.7 µm (av. 9.3 ± 0.8 µm, n = 21) wide in the broadest part, apical appendages 1.4–2.3 µm (av. 1.8 µm, n = 19) long. Culture characteristics. Colonies on PDA at 25 ° C in darkness, reaching 71 mm in diameter in 14 d. Surface white, dense, and raised in the middle. Reverse pale yellow. Material examined. China • Yunan Province, Puer City, Simao District, Puer Sun River Forest Park, on leaves of Cinnamomum verum, 15 May 2023, Q. Y. Liu, (HMAS 354000, holotype), ex-type living culture CGMCC 3.28828 = SAUCC 8938-5 A; Ibid., (HSAUP 8938-5 B, paratype), living culture SAUCC 8938-5 B. GeneBank numbers. SAUCC 8938-5 A: ITS = PV 577718, LSU = PV 570362, RPB 2 = PV 420883, TEF 1 - α = PV 420897, TUB 2 = PV 420905; SAUCC 8938-5 B: ITS = PV 577719, LSU = PV 570363, RPB 2 = PV 420884, TEF 1 - α = PV 420898, TUB 2 = PV 420906. Notes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that two isolates (SAUCC 8938-5 A and SAUCC 8938-5 B) of Beltrania veri were closely related to B. querna (BCRC 34620). B. querna (BCRC 34620) only has ITS sequence data (Rajeshkumar et al. 2016). Phylogenetically, B. veri (SAUCC 8938-5 A, ex-type strain) is closely related to B. querna (BCRC 34620) and shows 7 / 493 differences in ITS. Morphologically, our specimens differ from B. querna by their shorter apical appendages (1.4–2.3 µm vs. 4–9 µm), longer setae (193–390.5 μm vs. 125–185 μm), and shorter conidia (15.5–21.5 μm vs. 23–28 μm) (Barbosa et al. 2009). Thus, based on the guidelines of Chethana et al. (2021), we describe this fungus as a new species.