News

2021

A research group in Benin led by a graduate student, Hyppolite Aïgnon, has been actively lately and published three studies all in 2021 on west African Inocybaceae. I will summarize these in succession below, in addition to several others from Europe describing new species of Inocybe.

The first describes three new species of Inosperma from tropical Africa. Inosperma is of particular interest because the genus is characterized by a grade of Old World tropical lineages from which the rest of Inosperma emerged such as the better known In. calamistratum and In. maculatum and allies. Inosperma africanum is also identified as the sister group to the rest of the genus with strong support and thus represents an important discovery.

The second study by Aïgnon and colleagues describes the first species of Mallocybe from Africa, M. africana. However, its phylogenetic position conflicts depending on the gene regions analyzed. rDNA sequences suggest an alliance with another tropical species from south Asia, M. errata. However, analysis of rpb2 only sequences suggest M. africana is sister to the rest of Mallocybe, which as above, would be an important discovery, if accurate. Other gene sequences will be needed to resolve this conflict. Bart Buyck first discovered M. africana some years ago in Zambian Miombo woodland with a student of his, G. Eyssartier. I’ve been aware of this species for some years thanks to Bart, but it went undescribed until re-discovered in west Africa by the Benin research group. One note of caution about the phylogenetic analysis presented here: the tip in the tree figure labeled as M. althoffiae (type) comprises an unusual ITS sequence (possibly chimeric) and the 28S is a contaminant of Ps. sororium from the western U.S., results reported earlier by Matheny et al. (2020).

The third study by Aïgnon et al. (2021) presents a review of Inocybaceae taxonomic diversity as documented from west Africa. The review reports about 20 species in the family from west Africa, the minority of which, not surprisingly, are undescribed. Moreover, many species from other parts of tropical Africa are “known unknowns” and also undescribed. Much systematic and taxonomic work remains to be done!

Dovana and colleagues (2021) describe a new smooth-spored species, Inocybe cervenianensis, from Italy, which is placed phylogenetically in a recently recognized new group, the I. flavoalbida clade. This group is characterized in part at least by their smooth spores and entirely pruinose stipes. The group constitutes several European species such as I. amblyospora and I. pseudoreducta, I. praecox from western North America, and I. flavoalbida from Papua New Guinea and northern Australia.

Another Italian study published the new species Inocybe messapica from oak woods in Italy, which was also confirmed from Estonia based on environmental sequences. The species was classified, based on morphological taxonomy, in I. sect. Splendentes, species with smooth spores and an entirely pruinose stipe and typically absence of a cortina and bulbous stipe base. However, sect. Splendentes has been shown to be non-monophyletic by Kropp et al. (2010).

Mešič et al. (2021) have described a new species, Inocybe brijunica, from Croatia, which is placed in the monophyletic group I. sect. Hystrices, a group characterized by smooth-spored taxa such as I. hystrix, I. melanopoda, I. glabripes, I. aeruginascens, and I. chondroderma (the ‘PDAB’ Inocybe) among others. Inocybe brijunica is unusual because of the conspicuous orange to orange-brown membrane-like material present above or near the base of the stipe.

2020

Overall, 2020 was a very productive year for research on systematics of Inocybaceae, particularly by European biologists. At least 18 papers were published, including description of 40 new taxa and a few range extension reports and contemporaneous descriptions of rare or unusual species. The year also saw a rather significant shift to recognition of 7 genera in the family, which appears to have been readily embraced. In 2020 alone, Inocybaceae systematists described 13 new species of Pseudosperma, 24 new species and 1 new variety of Inocybe, and 2 new species of Mallocybe. Almost all of this work is emanating from Europe and Asia with two studies from North and South America. I would estimate now that worldwide Pseudosperma contains ca. 83 species, Inocybe ca. 875 species, and Mallocybe ca. 57 species.

So, the first paper I’ll mention is here pertains to my work with Fernando Esteve-Raventós with help from a research technician, Alicia Hobbs, whereby we arranged a new systematic framework within Inocybe that establishes 7 genera within the family (previously, 3 genera and 4 clades were recognized by many authors). Arguments pro and con are presented in the paper that ultimately led to our decision to restructure Inocybe in the large sense, a process that actually began more than a decade ago when the genera Auritella and Tubariomyces were described. Penny Cullington drafted a response to the newly proposed Inocybaceae in Field Mycology.

Sesli and Bandini (2020) report the first occurrence of the recently described central European species Inocybe nothomixtilis from east Asia (Turkey).

Yu et al. (2020) described a new species of Pseudosperma P. citrinostipesthat associates with the conifer Keteleeria (Pinaceae) in southwest China. The species appears to be sister to the bulk of the Ps. rimosum complex (but note the position of an additional undescribed species provisionally named Ps. burrneicothurnata” from Texas). Attempts to distinguish these species morphologically is inherently difficult, but molecular data have the resolving power to distinguish most.

Jabeen and Khalid (2020) describe a new Pseudosperma from Pakistani Himalayan conifer forest called P. flavorimosum. The species falls in clade A of Pseudosperma or the P. rimosum complex but dwells with several undescribed or poorly clarified species from the southeast U.S. and Papua New Guinea.

The third study of 2020 to describe three new species of Pseudosperma comes from central Europe by Bandini and Oertel in Czech Mycology. In it, the authors also have sequenced the isotypes of P. aureocitrinum (autonomous) and P. copriniforme (synonymous with P. perlatum), a welcoming contribution. Of the new species, Ps. napaeanum is most closely related to the P. umbrinellum group. Pseudosperma amoris occupies a rather long branch but may be related to Ps. dulcamaroides, which would be a nice discovery since the former occupies its own lineage within the genus. Lastly, Ps. amabile is most closely related to Ps. rimosum, Ps. sororium, Ps. melliolens, and Ps. holoxanthum. Epitypification of Ps. rimosum is still needed, and the it may be possible to sequence the type of Ps. sororium to more firmly establish its identity.

The fourth Pseudosperma systematics paper was done by Saba et al. (2020) out of Pakistan. Here they describe three new species associated with Pinus based on ITS, 28S, and the mt 12S locus (mitochondrial small subunit rDNA). Pseudosperma pinophilum is another new species very close to Ps. rimosum in the strict sense but distinguished molecularly. Pseudosperma triaciculare and Ps. brunneoumbonatum form a grade giving rise to the Ps. rimosum complex. It’d be interesting to see how these species relate to Ps. citrinostipes mentioned above. The authors also made five new combinations in Inosperma, Mallocybe, and Pseudosperma.

Amazingly, in a work by Cervini et al. (2020), the fifth Pseudosperma systematics paper presented detailed descriptions, illustrations, and phylogenetic analyses for four Italian species previously published in Index fungorum – Ps. melle um, Ps. conviviale, and Ps. ponderosum (in the rimsoum complex) and Ps. salentinum in the Gracilissimum clade. All four species are characterized by a honey-like smell and Quercus association but do differ subtly by other morphological features and, of course, phylogenetic relatedness.

17 species of Inocybe were detailed here in this study by Ditte Bandini and colleagues (2020), published in German in Mycologica Bavarica, 13 of which were described as new and two species raised from variety to species rank. The work was primarily carried out in western Europe. The table in the paper indicates that many sequences of new species described by E. Ludwig from Germany should be available soon.

Wartchow (2020) produced a short paper here that describes a new nodulose-spored species, Inocybe cavalcantiae, from the Atlantic Forest in northern Brazil. Note the Neotropicsa are dominated by the presence of nodulose-spored species over smooth-spored ones in Inocybe.

Saba and Khalid (2020) described the new species Mallocybe velutina, which was discovered in conifer forests in association with pine in Pakistan. This is an important discovery because it adds another species to a distinct clade within Mallocybe that includes M. heimii and M. tomentosula. rDNA analyses of mine also place the tropical species M. errata and M. africana in this grouping, but there could be some concern this is due to a long branch artifact as rpb2 only analyses place M. africana as sister to the rest of Mallocybe (see discussion of M. africana above).

Mallocybe crassivelata was described by Dovana and colleagues (2020) in a Persoonia ‘fungal planet sheet’. The species is known thus far from Italy, Slovenia, and Spain, and is distinguished, in part, by the presence of a heavy white veil, similar in some respects to a few other species also with this condition (e.g., M. leucoblema, M. leucoloma, and possibly M. pallidotomentosa). Interestingly, M. crassivelata is shown to be the sister group (with strong support) to a clade of three environmental sequences from root systems of Dryas in arctic Alaska.

Bandini et al. (2020) describe another new species of Inocybe with smooth spores and a cortina from central and northern Europe – I. woglindeana, which they ascribe to I. sect. Tardae based on morphology.

An unusual Inocybe, I. mytiliodora,with an odor of mussels or shellfish was recently reported as new to the U.K. under birch on calcareous ground by Hobart and Henrici in a Field Mycology article (here). Inocybe mytiliodora was originally described from Finland, observed in nearby Estonia, and reported from western North America with Salix in a subalpine, calcareous, wet meadow in Wyoming. The authors of the FM article also point to the synonymy of I. pedemontana, which extends the species into northern Italy. I have produced ITS and rpb2 sequences from the type and North American material, and both are very similar. As suggested by Jukka Vauras I. mytiliodora is closely related to I. appendiculata, which differs by the odor of rotten meat but becoming spermatic where cut. Both of these are closely related to smooth-spored species I. picrosma, I. tenebrosa, and I. luteifolia (and possibly I. kauffmanii as well), but these are distinguished by their entirely pruinose stipes (see the global rpb2 Inocybaceae tree published as a supplemental file in Matheny and Kudzma (2019).

Inosperma virosum (syn. Inocybe virosa), a tropical species that occurs in south Asia, underwent a detailed metabolic profile by Latha and colleagues (2020). The metabolites methyl palmitate and phytol, in addition to muscarine, were identified by gas chromatography and liquid chromatography. Bioassays were also explored. The species is most closely related to others in Inosperma that also are distributed in the south Asian tropics and Australasia (New Guinea). These species probably associate with Dipterocarpaceae and Fagaceae (Castanopsis), and one from New Guinea associates with Gnetum but best not to eat ‘em!

The species Inocybe antoniniana is described as new by Bandini et al. (2020) in a paper published in Sydowia. This Eurasian species is placed in the traditional sect. Marginatae, but this section is not monophyletic. Phylogenetic analysis places I. antoniniana in a large inclusive clade of species that include I. diabolica, I. xanthomelas, I. intricata, I. phaeocystidiosa, I. krieglsteineri, and I. invadens among others. This strongly supported clade currently does not have a name. This clade is distantly related to the I. mixtilis and I. praetervisa groups.

Inocybe melleiconica was originally described by Grund and Stuntz from spruce forests in Nova Scotia but probably occurs elsewhere in southeast Canada (such as Ontario) and perhaps the northeast U.S. It’s a smooth-spored species with an entirely pruinose stipe often with a bulbous base. Vauras and Larsson (2020) recently documented its presence with Salix in the Scandinavian alpine zone. An alpine version of I. pararubens was also discovered and described as I. pararubens var. padjelantae. The study was published in Karstenia and can be found here.

Cripps and colleagues (2020) report ten species of nodulose-spored Inocybe from the Rocky Mountain alpine zone. Of these, four are described as new. These alpine species associate with Salix, Betula, and Dryas and have broad intercontinental geographic distributions perhaps influenced by dynamic migration patterns of their plant associates. Interestingly, seven of the ten species also occur below tree line in boreal or montane habitats. The study was published in Mycologia and can be found here.

Dovona et al. (2020) provide a contemporary description of a rare species described originally from Italy in 1905 – Inocybe similis. Based on molecular annotations of the type (good work!) and contemporary collections, surprisingly, this smooth-spored to subangular-spored species with affinities to I. sect. Splendentes is most closely related to I. flavobrunnescens, which the authors treat in I. sect. Marginatae, an artificial group of nodulose-spored species.

In this work by Linas Kudzma and myself, we described five new species of Inocybe s. lat. from eastern North America. The first of these – Inocybe carolinensis – is unusual because of the overall reddish coloration; it’s most closely related to I. tahquamenonensis in the I. sect. Inocybe but now known only from two locations at high elevations in the Southern Appalachians. Two species of I. sect. Lactiferae are described, the first of which is probably a hallucinogenic species, I. glaucescens, originally from New Jersey; and the second, I. dulciolens, is basically the east North American version of the European species I. fraudans. Several other unique species-level lineages across North America have been detected in sect. Lacterferae. These await further clarification. Inocybe friabilis -now Pseudosperma friabilis – is a new species in the Gracilissima clade, which forms the sister group to the Ps. rimosum complex. Lastly, I. vinaceobrunnea – now Inosperma vinaceobrunneum – was described to accommodate Hesler’s application of the name I. jurana to a species that it most closely related to the European In. rhodolium and In. adaequatum.

2017

Here’s a study I missed that was published in 2017 by Brugaletta and colleagues and describes a new species of Mallocybe (as Inocybe siciliana) from a riparian corridor under willows in Sicily.