66 S. Afr. 1. Bot. 1997.63(2): 66-67

Profiles of South African ascomycetous fungi. I, Nitschkia broomeialla

E.J. van der Linde' l & A.J. Botha2

lSiosystematics Division, Plant Protectio n Research Institute, Private Bag X134, Pretoria 0001, South Africa 2Electronmicroscopy Unit, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

Received 15 DC/fiber 1996; revised 17 December /996

The Nitschkia broomeiana (Berk.) Nannf. is reported from South Africa fo r the first time. Only one other of this has previously been recorded here: N. confertula (Schw.) Nannf. [as syn. Tympanopsis euompha/a (Berk . & M.A. Curtis) Staib.]. These are the on ly two representatives of the family , as delimited at present, reported from this country. The fungus is described. illustrated. and compared with other Nitschkia species.

Keywords: Ascomycetes, fu ngus, new record, Nitschkia, SEM .

To whom correspondence shou ld be addressed

Introduction trate the morphology of it s ascocarps. Material for light mi cro­ The genus Nllschkia (Berk.) Nannf. belongs to the famil y scopy was mounted in erythrosine and photographs taken with a Nitschkiact.:at.:. Members of this ramily grow on wood or bark Leitz camera mounted on a Leitz Laborlux microscope. and may form patches of closely crowded ascocarps (Nannfeldt 1975h). Olle spl:cies, N. parasitalls (Sehwein. ) Nannf., is para­ Morphology sitic on the st romata or another fungus, Nectria cinnaharilla (Tode ex Fr.) Fr.. or on its anamorph. The remaining species Subiculum seem to be saprotrophic, but it is doubtful if any is a 'saprophyt e The ascocarp base in most species is surrounded by undulating, of the lirst in cidence' (Munk 1957), and indications of hyper­ richly branched, thick-walled, dark hyp hae. In N. bm()J1Jeiollo saprotrophism are numerous. such as the frequent association of these may be rather short, scarce and inconspicuous. N ('olljertl/fa (Schw.) Nannf. with old stromata of Hypoxylofl mhiginoswn (Pcrs. ex Fr.) Fr. An association between N. broo­ Ascocarps IIU:i{lllll (Bl:rk.) Nannf. and species of BOlryosphaeria Ces. & De The basic shape of the mature ascocarp is turbinate to spherical. Not. has also been observed (Nannfeldt 1975b). It is widespread There is no true ostiole, bu t most ascocarps haw a disti nct in most wanner countries: Europe (excluding the northern parts). papilla. Ascocarps of N. broomeiana are unusuall y robust and North anti South America. Asia, Australia. and Africa (Sierra firm, contrary to many others in thi s group. Peridial cells become Leone. Ghana. Gambia, and Zimbabwe) (Nannreldt 1975b). flancned and their walls hyaline and almost compressed towards Nannfeldl (1975a) discussed the taxonomy or thi s group in the lacule, the hyaline cells intruding into the papilla as a dome detai l and gave a historical rev iew. The genus Nirschkia was pre­ or flat cone. In delimiting th e Nitschkiaceae, Nannfeldt (1975b) viously considered a member of the family Coronophoraceae stressed the presence of thi s 'Quellkorper', as opposed to thin­ (order Coronophorales). placed by Muller and von Arx (1973) in walled filiform periphyses in the osti olar region. The thick­ the Pyrenomycetes. Nannfeldt (1975b), however. l:fected a new walled cells or the 'Quellkiirper' are said to be strongly family, tl1l.! Nitschkiaceae. and concluded that there were no mu cilaginous, and to swell and fun cti on in the breaking open of longer sufficient reasons for keeping the group as an order of its the ascocarp (Hawks worth 1980). In N. broomeiana this 'cush­ own but that it still deserved the rank or an independent family ion ' of ceIls is reduced or inci pi ent. Unlikl.: that of most other which should be regarded as a highly specialized 'satellite' group species, these cells do not collapse, so dry ascocarps do not derived from the Lasiosphaeriaceae. Nannfcldt (l975b) further become cup-shaped or have the appearance of sessil e apothecia. suggested that it wou ld eventually find its place in a remodelled Ascocarp size varies but can be: up to 0.8 mm diam (Figure 1). order. the Sordariales. as now delimited by Eriksson & Hawks­ The peridium is a coriaceous (not carbonized) pseudoparen­ worlh (1993). chyma or dark brown, rather large ce ll s. In N. broomeimw some Thl: onl y collecti on of this fun gus deposited in the Nati onal peripheral cells run out into hollow (Figure 1), pointed. spinc­ Co llecti on of rungi (PREM) is N. broomeiww PREM 55278. like processes wh ich are orten forked or provided with second ary l:o ll ~cted 011 dead wood, December 1987 from D'Nyala Nature 'barbs' (Figure 2). These spines may reach a length of 25 Jlm and Rl! serve, El li sras di st ri ct. Northern Province. No ind ica tion or more. The spines, whic h are characteri st ic of thi s species, are hypersaprotrophi sm was found in this material and it was not illust rated here for the fi rst time by means of SEM micrographs. fo un d in association with any of the fungi as mentioned in the introductory paragraph. Doidge (1 950) mentions two other col­ Asci lections from Zimbabwe (as Rhodesia): N. bmomeialla (as syn. Fraccliiaea hererogcllea Sacc.) on PY rLlS cOl/lllllmis L., Umtali , Most asci in any ascocarp are of about the same age. an d young Rhodesia. Rh. 343 t and N. broomeialla (as sy n. F helemgenea asci arc rarely seen. Asci are stipitate, rather thin-walled and uni­ Sate.) on PyrtfS maIllS L.. Inyanga. Rhodesia, Rh. 3606. but thi s tunicate. The walls deliquesce rather early. Asci are cylindric­ materi al is not deposited in PREM. davate, up to 125 x 25 ~m (Fi gure 3). The spines formed on the peridium of the ascocarp are cha rac­ teristic of this fung us. For the purpose of this study, material of Ascospores N. bmomeiwHI (PREM 55278) was mounted on stubs, spulter Several species have more than eight spores per ascus and six coated with gold and studied with a 840 Jeol cryo-SEM to illus- species are known to have about thirty-two per ascus. Deviations S. Afr.1. Bot. 1997,63(2) 67

Figure 3 Light micrograph of N. hroomeiarw of asci with ascospores, showing peculiar orit!ntation of the spores. Scale bars: 1 = 100 ~m, 2 = 10 ~m, 3 =20 ~m.

illustrate many of these fungi with photographs. Many have been collected only once or twice when originally described and have never been found or mentioned again. Several might since have undergone name changes bUl were never included in taxonomic revi sions. Thus, this series is intended to raise a possible interest in and awareness of them with other mycologists.

References DOIDGE. E.M. 1950. The South African Fungi and to the end of 1945. Bothalia5: 1-1094pp. Figures 1-2 SeaMing electron micrographs of N broomeiana. 1. ER IKSSON, O.E. & HAWKSWORTH D.L. 1993. Outline of the Asco­ Ascocarps showing the spines of the peridium. Inset and arrows mycetes. Sy.st. Ascom. 12: 51-257. showing hollow nature of spines. 2. Close up of spines showing sec­ ondary barbs. FITZPATRICK. H.M. 1924. The genus Fracchiaea. Mycologia 16: 101 - 114. HAWKSWORTH. D.L. 1980. Notes on some fungi occurring on Pettig­ from even muhiples of eight are not rare and in some species are era. with a key to the accepted species. Tram. Br. mycot. Soc. 74 :363· rather the rule. N. broomeiana offers an extreme case, not only 386. by the high number of spores (>200) per ascus, but also by their MuLLER, E. & VON ARX J.A. 1973. Pyrenomycetes: Meliolales. extraordinary and most characteristic arrangement (Figure 3) - Coronophorales. Sphaeriales.ln: The fun gi: an advanced treatise, cds. ' in several longitudinal rows, each spore lying obliquely with its G.c. Ainsworth. F.K. Sparrow & A.S. Sussmann. Vol. IVA , Ch. 6, pp. lower end towards the ascus wall and its upper cnd towards the interior' (Fitzpatrick 1924). The spores arc relatively smaU, 8.0- 87·132. Academic Press. London. 11 .0 x 1.5-2.0 ~m, allantoid and hyaline with distinct droplets. MUNK. A. 1957. Danish Pyrenomycetes: A preliminary flora. Damk No anamorph has been reported for any species of the genus and Bot. Ark. 17: 1·491. attempts to grow this fungus in culture were unsuccessful. NANNFELDT, J.A. 1975u. Stray studies in the Coronophorales (Pyren· Many South African Ascomycetes arc poorly known, espe­ omycetes) 1-3. Svensk But. Tidskr. 69: 49-66. cially those that are non-pathogenic and not of economic impor­ NANN FELDT. J.A. 1975b. Stray studies in the Coronophorales (Pyren­ tance. When encountered, it is more coincidental than the omycetes) 4-8 . Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 69: 289-335. deliberate search for more information (van der Linde & van VAN DER LINDE, E.!. & VAN WARMELO. K.T. 1989. New and inter­ Warmelo 1989). Few descriptions in the past included illustra­ esting records of South African fun gi. IX . New Ascomycete records. tions and up to now, little effort has been made to present and S. Ai' 1. Bot. 55: 536-538.