Neokalmusia arundinis Thambugala & K.D. Hyde, Mycosphere 8: 722 (2017). Fig. 79

MycoBank number: MB 553161; Index Fungorum number: IF 553161; Facesoffungi number: FoF 03219.

Saprobic on a dead stem of Panicum virgatum. Sexual morph: Ascomata 300–350 × 200–275 μm (= 325× 245 μm, n = 5), solitary, scattered, gregarious, immersed, under clupeus, globose to sub-globose, coriaceous, uni-loculate, brown to dark brown, shiny, roughened, ostiolate. Peridium 17–25 μm wide, poorly developed, composed of few layers of thin-walled, brown to dark brown, cells of textura angularis, fusing at the outside with the host tissue. Hamathecium comprising 2–3 μm wide, numerous, cellular, pseudoparaphyses, embedded in a mucilaginous matrix. Asci 70–90 × (7.5–) 8–11.5 μm (= 81.5 × 8.9 μm, n = 15), 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindric-clavate, long pedicellate, apically rounded with an indistinct ocular chamber. Ascospores 12.5–17 × 3.5–5 μm (= 14.3 × 4.1 μm, n = 30), overlapping 1–2-seriate, fusiform, initially hyaline, become pale brown to brown at maturity, 1-septate, constricted at the septum, slightly curved, often enlarged near septum in the upper cell, asymmetrical, upper cell shorter than lower cell, smooth-walled, without a mucilaginous sheath. Asexual morph: Undetermined.

Culture characteristicsColonies on PDA reaching 25 mm diam. after 2 weeks at 20–25°C, colonies medium sparse, circular, flat, surface slightly rough with edge entire, margin well defined, cottony to fairly fluffy with sparse aspects, colony from above: dark brown to black at the margin, white to grey at the centre; reverse, light brown to yellowish at the margin, light brown to grey at the centre; mycelium light brown to whitish grey with tufting; not producing pigments in PDA.

Material examined – China, Yunnan Province, Xishuangbanna, Nabanhe, on dead stem of Panicum virgatum (Poaceae), 20 November 2015, D.S. Tennakoon, DXH 008 (MFLU 17-0754, ibid. HKAS96331), living culture, MFLUCC 17-1782.

GenBank numbers – ITS: MT649882, LSU: MT649878, SSU: MT649879, tef1: MT663766.

Notes – Morphological characters of our specimen largely overlap with Neokalmusia arundinis in having globose to sub-globose, brown to black ascomata, cylindric-clavate, long pedicellate asci and 1-septate, asymmetrical, brown ascospores (Thambugala et al. 2017b). However, our specimen differs from known collections of N. arundinis in host occurrence (Panicum virgatum), whereas MFLU 16-2577 and MFLU 16-2578 were collected from Arundo pliniana Turra. We therefore report our collection as a new record of N. arundinis from dead stems of grass, Panicum virgatum in China.

Figure 79 Neokalmusia arundinis (MFLU 17-0754, new host record). a Ascomata visible as black dots on the host surface. b Close up of ascoma. c Vertical section of ascoma. d Section through peridium. e Pseudoparaphyses. f–i Asci. j–l Ascospores. m Germinated ascospore. n Colony from above. o Colony from below. Scale bars: c = 50 µm, d–i = 20 µm, j–m = 5 µm.