Sarocladium menglaense L. H. Zhu, Lin Zhou & D. W. Li 2025, sp. nov.

Sarocladium menglaense L. H. Zhu, Lin Zhou & D. W. Li sp. nov. Fig. 4 Type. China • Yunnan Province, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Mengla County, Menglun Town, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (21°55'0.12"N, 101°15'E), isolated from dead leaves of the Kentiopsis oliviformis, Nov. 2024, L. H. Zhu & D. W. Li. Holotype specimen CFCC 72673 is a living specimen being maintained via lyophilization at the China Forestry Culture Collection Center (CFCC). Ex-type (= LLon 2-5 A) is maintained at the Forest Pathology Laboratory, Nanjing Forestry University. Etymology. The term ‘ menglaense ’ indicates that this species was collected from Mengla County. Description. Asexual morph on PDA: Mycelium immersed, composed of septate, branched, white to transparent hyphae, 1–2 μm wide. Conidiophores erect, arising directly from vegetative hyphae, simple, hyaline to subhyaline, (14.5 –) 18.1–56.2 (– 62.0) μm long (mean ± SD = 33.8 ± 9.1 μm, n = 60). Phialides solitary, straight or slightly flexuous, subulate, (14.5 –) 18.1–56.2 (– 62.0) μm long (mean ± SD = 33.8 ± 9.1 μm, n = 60), with distinct periclinal thickening of the conidiogenous loci, hyaline, thin- and smooth-walled. Conidia unicellular, cylindrical with rounded ends, (1.6 –) 2.3–5.8 (– 5.8) × (1.1 –) 1.2–2.1 (– 2.2) μm (mean ± SD = 3.4 ± 0.9 × 1.7 ± 0.2 μm, n = 60), hyaline to subhyaline, thin- and smooth-walled, arranged in slimy heads. Chlamydospores and sexual morph not observed. Cultural characters. Colonies on PDA attaining 2.28–4.15 cm diam after 30 days at 25 ° C, white to light gray, reverse yellowish white, flat, powdery; coarse flocculent in center, aerial mycelia occasionally seen near the edge; exudates not observed. Additional strains examined. China • Yunnan Province, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Mengla County, Menglun Town, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (21°55'0.12"N, 101°15'E), dead leaves of Latania lontaroides, Nov. 2024, L. H. Zhu & D. W. Li, LLon 2-8 a (CFCC 72675), and LLon 4-1 c (CFCC 72676). Notes. Phylogenetically, S. menglaense nested in the Sarocladium clade based on the ITS + LSU sequence data, forming a distinct lineage. S. menglaense was related to S. bifurcatum, S. glaucum, S. gamsii, and S. theobromae with weak support (56 / -) (Fig. 2). In terms of the ITS sequence, the similarities (bp difference) between S. menglaense and S. bifurcatum, S. glaucum, S. gamsii, and S. theobromae are 86.40 % (76 bp difference), 87.18 % (66 bp difference), 93.17 % (37 bp difference), and 91.36 % (42 bp difference), respectively. Whereas in the LSU, the similarities (bp difference) are 99.42 % (3 bp difference), 98.65 % (7 bp difference), 97.64 % (13 bp difference), and 97.44 % (14 bp difference), respectively. Morphologically, S. menglaense can be easily distinguished from S. bifurcatum, S. gamsii, and S. theobromae by its conidiophores being up to 62 μm long, versus up to 43 μm in S. bifurcatum, up to 55 μm in S. gamsii (Giraldo et al. 2015), and up to 112 μm in S. theobromae (Hou et al. 2023). In addition, S. menglaense can be clearly differentiated from S. glaucum by the color of the colony, which is white to transparent in the former but grey-green to bluish green in the latter (Gams 1971).