Volvariella taylorii (Berk. & Broome) Singer, Lilloa

Caballero, Fernando, Justo, Alfredo, Parra, Luis A., Angelini, Claudio, Consiglio, Giovanni, Dovana, Francesco, Ferisin, Giuliano, Kaygusuz, Oğuzhan, Knudsen, Henning, Llimona, Xavier, Muñoz, Guillermo, Daniëls, Pablo P., Pérez-De-Gregorio, Miquel À., Ševčíková, Hana, Valverde, Andrés & Vizzini, Alfredo, 2025, Taxonomic and phylogenetic overview of the genus Volvariella (Volvariellaceae), with a focus on European species, Phytotaxa 680 (1), pp. 1-85 : 44-45

12. Volvariella taylorii (Berk. & Broome) Singer, Lilloa 22: 401. 1951 [“1949”]. ( Fig. 20 )

≡ Agaricus taylorii Berk. & Broome , The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Ser. 2, 13: 398. 1854 [“ Taylori ”] [basionym]

≡ Volvaria taylorii (Berk. & Broome) Gillet, Hyménomycètes : 386. 1876

≡ Volvariella pusilla var. taylorii (Berk. & Broome) Boekhout, Persoonia 13(2): 207. 1986

The name is still not formally typified but two elements from the original material could be designated as lectotype . Berkeley mentioned a specimen collected by M. A. Taylor in Jersey ( UK) and a drawing by M. A. Taylor from which the description was done. Index Fungorum (under the name Agaricus taylorii ) points out that the specimen is still available at K ( M) and labelled “Taylor s. n.” but the curator of Kew herbarium has informed us that no type specimen or illustration are extant. So, we designate a neotype .

Typification status:— Neotype designated here [specimen]: ITALY. Emilia-Romagna, Bologna, Sasso Marconi , Mongardino , in a forest of Quercus pubescens , 26 September 1994, G. Consiglio, AMB18874 . MycoBank type: MBT 10023151.

Description:— Pileus 20–55 mm diam., convex to conico-convex when young, expanding to plano-convex in older specimens, with or without a distinct central umbo; surface densely radially fibrillose, covered with fibrils that sometimes group to form minute squamules all over, reaching and exceeding the pileus margin, giving it an irregular aspect, grey, from mouse grey to very dark almost black-grey, sometimes with bluish tints, not hygrophanous; margin not striate, irregular and exceeding the lamellae. Lamellae crowded, free, broadly ventricose, white when young, becoming salmon pink or pinkish brown with age; edge irregular, white and floccose, or concolourous and more or less even. Stipe 33–45 × 5–10 mm, cylindrical, slightly widening towards the base, straight or curved; surface white, with grey or grey-brown tinges, smooth to fibrillose or slightly squamulose. Volva membranaceous, saccate, off-white, grey or grey-brown, with 2–3 lobes; rhizomorphs not observed. Context white, with indistinct smell.

Basidiospores (n=379, c=3) 5.5–8.7 × 3.9–5.9 μm, avl × avw = 6.9 × 4.7 μm, Q = 1.17–1.93, avQ = 1.50, broadly ellipsoid to oblong, thick-walled, sometimes with a median constriction, with barely distinct hilar appendage. Basidia 26–41 × 9–11 μm, mostly tetrasterigmate, rarely bisterigmate or monosterigmate, clavate or subclavate. Lamella edge heterogeneous. Cheilocystidia common, (39–)52–99(–122) × (9–)15–36(–49) μm, lageniform with an elongated neck, also clavate or utriform. Pleurocystidia scarce, 56–82(–99) × (18–)27–34(–44) µm, similar to cheilocystidia, or predominantly fusiform. Pileipellis a cutis or an intermediate cutis-trichoderm, with terminal elements, 5–25(–50) μm wide, often constricted at the septa, hyaline, or with diffuse, intracellular pale brown to greenish pigment. Stipitipellis a cutis or a cutis-trichoderm in the upper part of the stipe, with cylindrical hyphae, 6–17 μm wide. Caulocystidia 43–51 × 14–22 µm, lageniform or fusiform, in the upper part of the stipe (not present in all collections). Volva composed of interwoven, cylindrical hyphae, 5–28 μm wide, often with septa; sometimes with thick-walled elements, 3–5 μm wide, with intracellular, diffuse olive green pigment. Clamp connections absent in all parts examined.

Habit, habitat, and phenology:—Solitary or subgregarious. In coastal forests, dune ecosystems (including grassy areas), or inland forest ecosystems on sandy soils. Recorded under Juniperus , Liquidambar , Ostrya , Pinus , Pistacia , and Quercus . May–December.

Distribution:—Known from Europe and Turkey. Cited from North America ( Shaffer 1957), but it is unclear if those records correspond to V. taylorii as circumscribed here.

Additional collections examined:— ITALY. Gorizia, Farra d’Isonzo, on the grass, near Carpinus , 13 July 2014, G. Ferisin, FG13072014079. MALTA. Buskett, under Pinus halapensis and Pistacia lentiscu s, scattered on soil, 5 November 2011, C. Sammut, CS261; ibid., 23 November 2011, CS278. PORTUGAL. Algarve, Faro, Santa Bárbara de Nexe, Goldra de Baixo, under Quercus suber , 15 November 2004, A. Frutuoso, AJ54 (LOU-Fungi 18727). SPAIN. Balearic Islands: Eivissa: Sant Antoni de Portmany–Ses Planes de Francolí, in interior dune, under Pinus halepensis and Juniperus phoenicea , 7 December 2014, J.L. Siquier, JLS1306B; no locality specified, among “ garrigue ”, 8 December 2014, J.L. Siquier, JLS1316B; Mallorca, Parc Natural de Mondragó, on plant debris in coastal dunes, under Pinus halepensis , 3 December 2011, J.L. Siquier, JLS3500; Bizkaia, Orduña, habitat unknown, 24 May 1997, P. Arrillaga, ARAN-Fungi07904; Gipuzkoa, Zumaia, in grassland on dune, 17 September 2017, J. Teres , ARAN-Fungi09432. TURKEY. Burdur: Bucak district, in Karacaören, Kargı Village Sweetgum Forest Nature Protection Area, on soil, Mediterranean forest dominated by Liquidambar orientalis , elev. 277 m, 10 March 2019, O. Kaygusuz, OKA-TR2478; ibid., on soil, under L. orientalis , elev. 282 m, 16 March 2021, O. Kaygusuz, OKA-TR2479; ibid., on soil, associated with L. orientalis , elev. 270 m, 15 March 2022, O. Kaygusuz, OKA-TR2480. Denizli: Pamukkale district, in BağbaŞı, on the soil between calcareous rocks, under Quercus coccifera , elev. 680 m, 7 April 2014, O. Kaygusuz, OKA-PS4.

Observations:—The original description of V. taylorii ( Berkeley & Broome 1854) was notably brief and missed key characters necessary for an unequivocal identification within the genus. Thus, this name has been interpreted differently by subsequent authors. Our concept of V. taylorii matches that of Orton (1986) and Boekhout (1986, 1990) very well. Volvariella taylorii as interpreted by us is characterized by its relatively small size (<60 mm pileal diam.), grey pileus surface, usually grey, saccate volva, large cystidia and preferential habitat in coastal dunes or areas near the sea.

Volvariella taylorii strongly resembles other grey-coloured species, both previously described and undescribed, which is particularly evident in our phylogenetic analyses where collections identified as V. taylorii fall into different clades. For this reason, although V. taylorii has been reported on practically all continents, and in very different habitats such as tropical forests, dune environments, forests, or urban parks (Shaeffer 1957, Malençon & Bertault 1970, Pegler 1983, Mora 1985, Orton 1986, Boekhout 1986, Seok et al. 2002, Niveiro et al. 2017), it is difficult to know its actual distribution, until additional collections from outside Europe are sequenced. So far, the only extra-European collections confirmed to represent V. taylorii as accepted in our study are the Turkish collections included here.

The closest species in the nrITS phylogeny is V. globifera ( Fig. 2 ), which differs by its white pileus less than 25 mm diam., smaller spores and cystidia, and the presence of spherical or sausage-shaped elements in the pileipellis. Volvariella murinella is morphologically very similar to V. taylorii , but the white phenotype observed in V. murinella has not been observed in V. taylorii , and V. murinella has not been collected in the dune habitats that are typical of V. taylorii . Despite their morphological similarities, nrITS sequences of V. murinella and V. taylorii are quite different.

Other species similar to V. taylorii include V. volvacea , V. caesiotincta and V. dunensis , but these three species have a larger pileus (up to 120 mm diam. in V. volvacea and V. caesiotincta , and up to 100 mm diam. in V. dunensis ). For additional morphological differences see Tables 1 and 2.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Best tree from the Maximum Likelihood analysis of the ITS dataset of Volvariella: detailed view of the lineage including V. murinella and related taxa. BS ≥ 70 % and PP ≥ 0.90 are shown on or below the branches. Newly described taxa are highlighted in red.

FIGURE 20. Volvariella taylorii. A–C. Basidiomes. A. (FG13072014079); B. (JLS3500); C. (AMB18874, Neotype). D–I. Microscopic characters. D. Cheilocystidia (ARAN07904). E–F. Pleurocystidia (JLS3500). G. Spores (JLS3500). H. Pileipellis (ARAN07904). I. Volva hyphae (ARAN07904). Bar: (D–I) = 10 µm. Photos by G. Ferisin (A), J.L. Siquier (B), G. Consiglio (C), F. Caballero (D–I).