Bovista cretacea T.C.E. Fr., Svensk bot. Tidskr. 8: 241 (1914)

Index Fungorum number: IF 101538; MycoBank number: MB 101538; Facesoffungi number: FoF 17123; Figs. 1, 2

Basidiomata globose, subglobose, depressed globose, 16–22 mm in diameter. Pseudostipe abscent or not indistinct, the base encrusted with soil. Peridium layered. Exoperidium whitish overall when young, the upperpart possesses irregular cracking, whitish, cream white, and scattered grayish brown flaky squamulose, gradually fall off with age. Endoperidium papery, smooth, cream white, grayish white. Gleba powdery, at first whitish then yellowish brown, slightly yellowish green at maturity.

Basidiospores globose to subglobose, 3.8–4.8 µm, (x̄ = 4.4 ± 0.2, n = 30), smooth to asperulate, slightly thick-walled (about 0.5 µm), with an oil drop central, often with a pedicel (8–12 µm), under SEM ornamented with cylindrical to sub-cylindrical verrucae. Capillitium of Bovista-type, 2–10 µm width, smooth to asperulate, slightly thick-walled (1.2–1.7 µm in width), tapering to the end. Paracapillitium absent. Exoperidium was made up of inflated cells, globose to subglobose, thick-walled, smooth, hyaline in 5% KOH. Endoperidium was made up of straight hyphae rare branched, septa abundant.

Material examined – CHINA, Xizang Autonomous Region, Ngari Prefecture, Burang County, 30°29’N 81°10’W, ca. 4437 m asl, 1 Aug 2024, Xi-Xi Han and Lin-Hui Liu, ZRL20240263 (HMAS 287969), ZRL20240264 (HMAS 287970) and ZRL20240265 (HMAS 287971).

GenBank – HMAS 287969: PQ620228 (ITS); HMAS 287970: PQ620229 (ITS); HMAS 287971: PQ620230 (ITS).

Notes – This species is very rare and has been documented in only a few European countries, including Sweden (Fries et al. 1914), Iceland, Norway (Larsson and Jeppson 2008), and Russia (Rebriev et al. 2020). Molecular data from the Chinese specimen aligns with data from European specimens (Fig. 2), establishing a new geographic record from the Xizang Autonomous Region, China.

Figure 1 – Bovista cretacea. a Basidiomata (HMAS 287971). b Basidiomata (HMAS 287969). Scale bars = 1 cm.

Figure 2 – Phylogenetic tree of Bovista inferred from ITS sequences data, rooted with Calvatia craniiformis and C. candida. Branches supported by both BS = 70% and PP = 0.90 were labeled. The examined specimens in this study are in bold.