THE GENUS SCUTELLINIA (pEZIZALES) IN ... - Ascomycete.org

Volume LXXVI, pp. 481-488 October-December 2000
THE GENUS SCUTELLINIA (pEZIZALES) IN CROATIA ill.
A NEW SPECIES - SCUTELLINIA TUBERCULATA
NEVEN MATOCEC
Ruder Boskovic Institute
Bijenicka 54, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
e-mail: nmatocec@rudjer.irb.hr
Abstract
A new species Scutellinia tuberculata N. Matocec is described, which settles
the warin temperate deciduous broadleaved forests in Croatia. The species is
compared with morphologically most similar species and its ecology and
taxonomy are discussed. S. tuberculata is introduced as a new member of
subg. Scutellinia, sect. Globisporae Svrcek.
Key Words: Pezizales, Scutellinia tuberculata, new specIes, taxonomy,
Croatia.
Introduction
This is the first contribution dealing with some previously unidentified
material of the genus Scutellinia collected in Croatia, mentioned in the frrst
paper on Croatian Scutellinia species (Matocec et aI., 1995). One previous
collection and one additional collected in 1998 were proved to be conspecific
according to important characters on specific level in the genus (see also
Schumacher 1990). Both collections share unique combination of characters
and therefore could not match any ofso far accepted species.
Materials and Methods
Fieldwork techniques, microscopical preparation and procedures were
elaborated earlier (Erb & Matheis 1983, Baral 1992, Matocec et aI., 1995,
Matocec 1998) and will not be repeated here. The living apothecia were
microscopically examined in tap water. The ascospores obtained from fresh
spore prints were frrstly measured in tap water and subsequently stained in
Cotton blue, in order to examine spore ornamentation. The number of

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measurements of the ascospores was 50 per collection, 25 for both marginal
and excipular hairs and 20 for both paraphyses and asci. All characters were
examined in both collections. In the species concept, organism delimitation,
fructification definition, and anatomical terminology I was following our fIrst
paper (Matocec et aI., 1995). Ecological observations was made relying on
Bertovic & Lovric (1992).
Abbreviations
NM = private fungarium N. Matocec, Gajnice 13, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia, ZA
= Herbarium of Department of Botany, Faculty of science, University of
Zagreb, Marulicev trg 20/2; CB = cotton blue, CB+ = cyanophillic structures;
CB- = non-cyanophillic structures; glob. = globose; tub. = tuberculate; (*) =
living state ofcell; (tU') = dead state.
Scutellinia tubercuLata N. Matocec, sp. novo
Apothecia exigua, 1.0-1.6 mm. lata, sessilia, cupulata, hymenio explanato,
roseo vel aurantiaco; margine extus setis erectis brunneis vestita. Apothecio
pili superiores 275-795 f-Lm longi, 25.0-46.5 f-Lm lali, acuti, 3-11 septis divisi,
tunica ferruginea, 2.8-5.5 f-Lm crassa, basi bi- vel multi-furcati. Pili inferiores
92-285 f-Lm longi, 13.5-26.0 f-Lm lati, acuti, 1-5 septis divisi, tunica lutea vel
luteo-ochracea, 0.8-3.4 f-Lm crassa, basi simplices vel bifurcati. Excipulum
externum 85-100 f-Lm crassum, e cellulis 22.5-69.5 f-Lm magnis, globularibus
vel angulatis compositum. Excipulum medullare 105-125 f-Lm crassum, e
cellulis minoribus diametro 5.2-15.0 f-Lm compositum. Subhymenium
indistinctum. Asci in statu vivo 245-305 x 24.6-37.0 f-Lm, octospori,
operculati, apice obtuso vel obtuso-truncato. Paraphysae in statu vivo basi
2.4-3.6 f-Lm crassae, rectae, apice clavato-dilatatae, diametro 6.9-16.6 f-Lm.
Ascosporae in statu vivo diametro 18.1-23.4 (23.8) f-Lm, perfecte globosae,
guttulis magnis oleiferis instructae. Tunica verrucosa, verrucae magnae,
tuberculatae, in statu emortuo 1.4-5.8 (7.0) pm latae, 1.4-4.3 pm altae.
Habitat: ad terram nudam humidam in sylva decidua
Holotypus: die 8 Mai annoi 1994 prope rivulum Okicnica in Croatia
centrali, sub numero NM/2235 ab auctore lectus, Universitatis studiorum
Zagrabiensis - ZA depositus; isotypi in Fungario Neven Matocec - NM
depositi.
Scutellinia tubercuLata N. Matocec, sp. novo
Illustrations: Figs. 1-4.
Apothecia small, sessile, cupulate to shallowly cupulate but with plane
hymenial surface, sessile, 1.0-1.6 mm in diam., perfectly circular from the

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Fig. 1. Scutellinia tuberculata - marginal part of an apothecium with its
marginal hairs (NM/4129), observed in tap water at statu vivo: a - vertical
median section ofthe apothecium; b-d - marginal hair bases (bar=40Jlm).

a
Fig. 2
_b
Fig. 3
Fig.4
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Figs. 2-4. Scutellinia tuberculata - important taxonomic characters. Fig. 2 ­
hymenial elements and apothecial hairs (NM/2235, type) obtained from thin
hand-section without squashing and observed in tap water at statu vivo: a ­
mature ascus (bar=lOOflm); b - paraphyses (bar=20flm); c - excipular hairs
and d - marginal hairs (bar=1OOflm). Figs. 3, 4 - ascospores from the fresh
spore-print, stained in CB, observed under oil-immersion (bar=20flm). Fig. 3
- collection no. NM/2235, type. Fig. 4 - collection no. NM/4129.

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Collections examined:
NM/2235 Okicnica brook in Samoborsko gorje Mts., Zumberak region, Central
Croatia; UTM 33T WL 56; 8. May 1994.; leg. N, Matocec (holotype in ZA, isotype in
NM); NM/4129 Motovunska suma forest near Motovun, Istria region; UTM 33T VL
12; 20. Nov. 1998.; leg. N. Matocec.
Discussion
Both collections of the species share several unique characters and could not
be conspecific with any of known species, according to all important
characters on specific level in genus Scutellinia, viz. ascospore shape and
dimensions, ascospore ornamentation type and dimensions, marginal hair
dimensions, marginal hair base construction and differentiation degree
among marginal and excipular hairs (cf. Kullman, 1982 and Schumacher,
1990). Mentioned characters in both collections of S. tuberculata are
presented in the following table.
Coli. Marginal hairs Ascospores Ascospore
no. ornamentation
base con- length diam. shape shape diam. shape diam. height
structiofl /Jlm /Jlm
'i1' /Jlm /JlIll /Jlm
*
NM/ bi- to tetra- 282- 25.0-39.7 glob. glob. 18.1-2I.l tub. 1.4-6.4 1.4-4.3
2235 furcate 620
NMI bi- to penta- 275- 27.6-46.5 glob. glob. 19.4-23.8 tub. 3.8-5.8 1.4-3.7
4129 furcate 795
The apothecia from both collections are very small for the genus, e.g. 1,0-1,6
mm in diam. (NM/2235) and 1,4 mm in diam (NM/4129, single apothecium)
and additionally, their hymenia are always pinkish to orange, never red. The
hair differentiation is obvious in both collections, where marginal hairs are
generally much longer than the excipular ones. However, the presence of
hairs with multifurcate bases could easily be overlooked, due to their low
density in each apothecium. It seems that this species could be distributed in
warm temperate region, viz. submediterranean and continental mediterranoid
areas (cf. Bertovic & Lovric 1992).
The species is not likely to be confused with other globose-spored Scutellinia
species because of its unique combination of characters. The small and
orange to pinkish apothecia, occurrence of multifurcate marginal hairs,
medium sized perfectly globose ascospores, beset with very large
hemisphere-shaped tubercles clearly distinguish the species. S. trechispora
(Berk. & Broome) Lambotte has globose spores and multifurcate marginal
hairs (500-2000 Jlm in length), but spores measure only 14-18 Jlm and bear
unique bluntly conical to molariform ornamentation. The species is quite
common in Croatia and Slovenia. S. paludicola (Boud.) Le Gal has the same

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spore ornamentation type with similar dimensions, but spores are much
larger, 25-30 Jlm in diam., and the hairs, which have no differentiation
between marginal and excipular ones are very short, 100-350 J.1m in length
with simple or only exceptionally bifurcate base (Schumacher, 1990). This
species is not recorded in Croatia so far. S. barlae (Boud.) Maire - a species
that is also found in similar habitat in Croatia (Matocec, 1998) has nearly the
same dimensions and the same shape ofthe ascospores. On the other hand, S.
barlae has the same type and dimensions of the apothecial hairs as S.
paludicola and it also differs from S. tuberculata in type and in dimensions of
the spore ornamentation. S. minor (Velen.) Svrcek and S. tuberculata have
overlapping dimensions ofthe marginal hairs and the ascospores. Though, S.
minor has unbranched to trifurcate hair-base· and the ascospores are globose
to subglobose, even in the living state (Matocec, 1998). Additionally, S.
minor has different spore ornamentation type, e.g. roller-shaped to cylindricobtuse,
measuring 1.2-2.1 Jlm in diam. and 0.8-2.2 Jlm in height. Besides, the
species has much larger apothecia (3-8 mm in diam.) and belongs to boreopolar
species group (Schumacher, 1990, 1993). It has only been recorded in
subalpine zone in Croatia (Matocec et aI., 1995).
On account of certain taxonomic characters, S. tuberculata can be placed in
subg. Scutellinia (multifurcate, prominent marginal hairs structurally
differentiated from excipular hairs), section Globisporae Svrcek (ascospores
globose, with prominent, isolated spore ornamentation) as a second member
in the section, nearby S. trechispora (Berk. & Broome) Lambotte.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank the stuff of Croatian State Directorate for the Protection of
Nature & Environment, which supported the fieldwork in Istria, where I have
discovered the second collection ofthe species. The author is also indebted to
Dr. Ain Raitviir (Tartu) for critically reading the manuscript, and to Dr. A. Z.
Lovric for checking the latin diagnosis.
Literature cited
BARAL, H. 0., 1992: Vital versus herbarium taxonomy: Morphological differences
between living and dead cells of ascomycetes, and their taxonomic
implications. Mycotaxon 44(2): 333-390.
BERTOVIC, S. & A. Z. LOVRIC, 1992: Ubersicht der Vegetation Kroatiens nach
neueren Untersuchungen. TUxenia 12: 29-48.
ERB & MATHEIS, 1983: Pilzmikroskopie. Kosmos, Stuttgart.
KULLMAN, B., 1982: A revision of the genus Scute/linia in the Soviet Union.
Scripta Mycologica. Tartu 10: 1-158.

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MATOCEC, N., O. ANTONIC & D. MRVOS, 1995: The genus Scutellinia
(Pezizales, Ascomycotina) in Croatia: Preliminary part. Natura Croatica 4( 1):
1-58.
MATOCEC, N., 1998: The genus Scutellinia (Pezizales, Ascomycotina) in Croatia,
n.: Scutellinia barlae and S. minor. Natura Croatica 7(2): 91-105.
SCHUMACHER, T., 1990: The genus Scutellinia. Opera Botanica 101: 1-107.
SCHUMACHER, T., 1993: Ecology and Distribution of the Genus Scutellinia in
Norway. - Arctic and alpine Mycology 3. Bibl. Mycol. 150: 215-233.