Kretzschmaria iranica Pourmoghaddam & Khodap, in Pourmoghaddam, Khodaparast, Krisai-Greilhuber, Voglmayr & Stadler, Mycosphere 9(6): 1202 (2018)

Index Fungorum number: IF 827994, MycoBank numbers: MB 827994, Facesoffungi number: 04959

Etymology –Named after the country from where it was collected, Iran

Sexual morph: Stromata superficial, pulvinate to effused-pulvinate, densely aggregated, up to 8.5 cm long × 2–4 cm wide × 1.8–3.45 mm thick, with broad attachment to substrate and narrow connective, margins steep; surface brown to dark brown, with inconspicuous perithecial mounds, often with reticulate cracks, carbonaceous immediately beneath surface; tissue between and beneath perithecia brown to dark brown. Perithecia obovoid to lanceolate, 0.6–0.9 mm wide × 0.75–1.15 mm high, ostioles finely papillate. Asci with amyloid, urn-shaped apical apparatus, 7–10 μm high × 4.5–7 μm wide, stipe up to 150 μm long, spore-bearing part 80–130 × 10–15 μm. Ascospores smooth, unicellular, dark to blackish brown, fusoid to ellipsoid, inequilateral, with narrowly or broadly rounded ends, 29–40 × 8–12 (–13) μm, with straight germ-slit slightly less than spore-length on flattened side; perispore indehiscent in 10% KOH.

Holotype – Iran, Guilan Province, Fouman County, Ghalerodkhan forest, on fallen wood of Alnus subcordata, N 37°04ʹ05.02”, E 49°14ʹ40.08”, 480 m elev., 10 Nov 2016, M.J. Pourmoghaddam GUM1551, consisting of a dried specimen.

GenBank accession numbers – GUM1551 – ITS: MH084759, ACT1: MH056206; GUM1552 – ITS: MH084760, ACT1: MH056207; GUM1550 – ITS: MH084758, ACT1: MH056205.

Host – on fallen wood of Alnus subcordata

Known distribution – Iran

Additional material examined – Iran, Guilan Province, Fouman County, Ghalerodkhan forest, on dead trunk of Quercus sp., N 37°04ʹ10.26”, E 49°14ʹ40.18”, 551 m elev., 10 Nov 2016, leg. M.J. Pourmoghaddam (GUM1552, consisting of a dried specimen); Iran, Mazandaran Province, Tonekabon County, Dohezar forest, on dead trunk of Pterocarya fraxinifolia, N 36°47ʹ21.02”, E 50° 52ʹ34.07”, 1 m elev., 28 Oct 2016, leg. M.J. Pourmoghaddam (GUM1550, consisting of a dried specimen.

Notes – Kretzschmaria iranica has morphological similarities to K. pavimentosa, but differs by a larger apical apparatus (7–10 × 4.5–7 vs. 6–9 × 4.5–6 μm), smaller ascospores (29–40 × 8–12 (–13) vs. 35–54 (–56) × 7.5–11 μm) and in the length of germ-slit, which is similar to K. deusta.

Fig. 1 Kretzschmaria iranica (Holotype). a Stromatal habit. b Close-up view of stromata surface. c Close-up view of ostiolar discs. d Stroma in vertical section showing perithecia. e Asci, showing apical apparatus in Melzer’s reagent. f Apical apparatus in Melzer’s reagent. g Ascospores in water, showing germ slits. h Ascospores in 10% KOH, showing indehiscent perispore. Scale bars: b = 2 mm, c = 0.3 mm, d = 0.4 mm, e = 20 μm, f–h = 10 μm.