Porina epiphylloides Vezda

Porina cf. epiphylloides Vězda, Folia geobot. phytotax. 10: 393. 1975. Fig. 16 A Type. TANZANIA • SW slope of Rwunge volcano; 1800–1900 m; Aug. 1972; Pócs 6762 (holotype: PRA). Notes. New record for Madagascar. Porina epiphylloides is mainly known from tropical East Africa and adjacent islands, where it occurs in submontane to montane rainforests (Lücking and Vězda 1998). This taxon is represented by three examined specimens: two from Madagascar (25302 D and 25321 E) and one from Mauritius (24305 H). In the mtSSU phylogeny, the sequences cluster with the P. epiphylloides sequence reported by Ertz and Diederich (2022) within the Paleotropical subclade of the large Porina s. str. clade (Fig. 2). The sequences show little genetic divergence, suggesting that the specimens represent a single taxon. Despite this close phylogenetic affinity, the examined material does not fully match the measurements reported for the specimen by Ertz and Diederich (2022) or the description of P. epiphylloides by Lücking and Vězda (1998). This discrepancy mainly concerns ascospore length: the 7 - septate ascospores measure (25 –) 26.5–31 (– 34) × (2.8 –) 3.1–3.5 (– 3.8) µm (n = 113), compared with 21–27 × 3 µm in the description. However, the perithecial morphology, thallus, and photobiont morphotype agree well with the description by Lücking and Vězda (1998). Porina cf. epiphylloides appears highly selective and is associated with a single algal clade and haplotype, 34: 1 (Figs 4, 5). Overall, the relatively minor differences, together with the absence of type-linked sequences, make it difficult to confidently assign these specimens to P. epiphylloides s. str. The specimens are therefore retained as P. cf. epiphylloides. Specimens examined. MADAGASCAR – Toliara Prov. • ca. 25 km Northwest of Fort-Dauphin (Tolagnaro), National Park of Andohahela, South part of parcel 1, ca. 5 km West of the village of Malio, 24°55'43.4"S, 46°44'37.2"E, alt. 360 m, dense and humid forest at the bottom of a valley near a river bordered by large granite boulders, 27 Nov. 2019; Ertz 25302 D (BR, TAN). • ibid., ca. 26 km Northwest of Fort-Dauphin (Tolagnaro), National Park of Andohahela, South part of parcel 1, ca. 6 km West of the village of Malio, 24°55'46.9"S, 46°43'55.9"E, alt. 515 m, dense humid forest, 28 Nov. 2019; Ertz 25321 E (BR, TAN). – MAURITIUS – Rivière Noire District • Black River Gorges National Park, 5 km North-West of Pétrin, Brise Fer Forest, 20°22'40"S (ca. 200 m), 57°26'25"E (ca. 200 m), 585 m, 10 Sep. 2019; Ertz 24305 H and Diederich (BR).