Parasola crispa T. Bau, L. Y. Zhu & W. F. Lin, 2025

Zhu, LiYang & Bau, Tolgor, 2025, Emendation of morphology and infrageneric standards of Parasola (Psathyrellaceae, Agaricales) and its species diversity in China, IMA Fungus 16, pp. e 143796-e 143796 : e143796-

Parasola crispa T. Bau, L. Y. Zhu & W. F. Lin sp. nov.

Figs 6 f – k , 7

Etymology.

The specific epithet refers to the obscure sulcate-striate pileus of this species.

Diagnosis.

Basidiocarps psathyrelloid ; pileus conico-convex to paraboloid when mature, sometimes with obvious papilla, lacteous to pale brown-gray, somewhat yellow-brown at center, surface subglabrous to uneven, mainly with obscure sulcate-striate up to 1 / 3 to 1 / 2 part from margin to center; lamellae adnate; stipes glabrous with clavate base; basidiospores 10.3–10.7 × 7.3–7.6 × 6.4–7.0 μm, ellipsoid or ovoid in front view and ellipsoid to oblong in side view, germ pore central or slightly eccentric, 1.8–3.3 μm wide; basidia monomorphics, with relatively long sterigma which is up to 8 μm; sclerocystidia present; caulocystidia present, mostly sublageniform or subcylindrical.

Type.

CHINA • Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou City, Zijingang Campus of Zhejiang University , 30°29'73"N, 120°08'70"E, 51 m a. s. l., on soil mixed with rotten grass in grassland, July 5 th 2021, T. Bau, W. F. Lin and L. Y. Zhu, Z 21070513 (holotype HMJAU 60339 ) .

Description.

Basidiocarps small, psathyrelloid , not collapsing. Pileus 6–7 × 6–8 mm at young stage, 10–18 mm when mature, at first conical, finally conico-convex to paraboloid and never flattened, sometimes with obvious papilla; dry; sordid yellow to light cinnamon when young, lacteous to pale brown-gray, somewhat yellow-brown at center when age; surface subglabrous to uneven, sometimes with obscure sulcate-striate up to 1 / 3 to 1 / 2 part from margin to center. Context thin, white to pale gray, odor and taste not distinctive. Lamellae crowded, adnate, 1–3 mm in wide, L = 32–39, I = 1 or 3, initially pale gray then become brown gray with somewhat olivaceous hue and finally purple gray or dark gray when mature, more pale at margin; not deliquescent. Stipe 31–74 × 1–2 mm, cylindrical, hollow, equal or attenuate towards the apex, white to sordid yellow, glabrous, clavate and without white hairs at base of stipes. Spore print not recording.

Basidiospores [49, 4, 3] (9.3 –) 10.3–10.7 (– 11.4) × (6.6 –) 7.3–7.6 (– 8.2) × (5.8 –) 6.4–7.0 (– 7.2) μm (10.5 × 7.4 × 6.7 μm in average), Q 1 = 1.29–1.51, Q 2 = 1.46–1.80, av. Q 1 = 1.41, av. Q 2 = 1.58; ellipsoid or ovoid in front view and ellipsoid to oblong in side view, with apical papilla, with conical base and truncate apex, smooth, dark yellow-brown to almost black; inamyloid; germ pore central or slightly eccentric, 1.8–3.3 μm wide. Basidia monomorphics, 20–37 × 8–13 μm, with relatively long sterigma which up to 8 μm, clavate, hyaline, 4 - or 2 - spored, surrounded with 4–6 pseudoparaphyses; subhymenium composed of subglobose, ellipsoid, oblong or cylindrical elements, 8–20 × 6–16 μm. Cheilocystidia abundant, 26–76 × 15–28 μm, subglobose, utriform, ellipsoid or sublageniform, smooth, colorless, thin-walled. Pleurocystidia relatively rare, when present, 41–79 × 11–32 μm, broad utriform, sublageniform or (sub) cylindrical. Lamella trama regular, 3–12 μm wide, hyaline, colorless, thin-walled. Pileipellis a hymeniderm mainly made up of sphaeropedunculate cells with inconspicuous short pedicels, 20–43 × 14–21 μm, hyaline, with brown hue at base in most cases, mixed with sclerocystidia; sclerocystidia 28–159 × 4–6 μm, yellow-brown, thick-walled; pileus trama hyphae densely interwoven, thin-walled, hyaline, dark yellow to yellow-brown, 4–6 μm wide. Caulopellis hyphae parallel, 4–9 μm wide, hyaline, thin-walled, slightly diverticulate; hyphae of stipe trama 9–21 μm wide, colorless, thin-walled; caulocystidia present at upper part of stipe, 30–53 × 11–16 μm, mostly in cylindrical or broad lageniform, 16–21 × 11–16 μm, sometimes subglobose to ellipsoid, hyaline, thin-walled. Clamp connection abundant, pseudoclamp also present.

Ecology.

Solitary, subfasciculate, or in small groups, grow in lawns and other grassy places, at base of dead trump of broadleaf trees or humus layer of bamboo forest. Fruiting during June to August. Currently only known from East and Central China.

Other specimens examined.

CHINA • Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou City, Zijingang Campus of Zhejiang University , 30°29'90"N, 120°08'61"E, 51 m a. s. l., July 5 th 2021, T. Bau, W. F. Lin and L. Y. Zhu, HMJAU 60340 (Z 21070507) ; CHINA • Shanghai Municipality, Songjiang District, Tianma Mountain , 31°07'48"N, 121°15'39"E, 82 m a. s. l., June 29 th 2021, J. M. Cai, HMJAU 67660 (CJM 62901) ; • August 28 th 2022, J. M. Cai, HMJAU 60341 ( SHPC) ; CHINA • Anhui Province, Chizhou City, Shitai County, bamboo forest opposite Shitai Environmental Protection Agency , 30°12'43"N, 117°29'29"E, 55 m a. s. l., June 16 th 2022, L. Y. Zhu, H. B. Song, and H. Cheng, HMJAU 64093 (Z 22061601) ; CHINA • Anhui Province, Hefei City, Feixi County, Zipeng Mountain National Forest Park , 31°43'45"N, 117°00'51"E, 55 m a. s. l., July 22 nd 2022, H. Cheng, HMJAU 64095 (C 22072201) ; CHINA • Hubei Province, Wuhan City, Wuhan Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy of Science , 30°32'56"N, 114°25'07"E, 366 m a. s. l., June 18 th 2022, L. Y. Zhu, H. B. Song, and H. Cheng, HMJAU 64096 (Z 22061809) .

Notes.

There are three known psathyrelloid species in Parasola , namely Parasola cinnamomescens , Parasola conopilea , and Parasola Psathyrelloides , and the fourth is the new species Parasola crispa . Different from Parasola crispa , these three species have brown or orange-brown pileus and longer sclerocystidia (in Parasola conopilea 100–300 μm, in Parasola psathyrelloid up to 700 μm and in Parasola cinnamomescens 140–395 μm). Additionally, Parasola conopilea has larger basidiospores (in average 14.2 × 7.4 μm) and caulocystidia at top of stipe and its pileus often have metal gloss and sometimes slightly sticky when young from our observation ( HMJAU 60365 , HMJAU 60342 ). Compared with Parasola crispa , Parasola psathyrelloides has finely sulcate-striate up to the center which resembles species in sect. Parasola ( Ganga and Manimohan 2019) . Differing from Parasola crispa , Parasola cinnamomescens processes specialized pileipellis elements that resemble pileocystidia ( Khan et al. 2023). Notably, the caulocystidia located at the upper of stipes also serve as a diagnostic feature to distinguish species within this section. Based on our observation, the caulocystidia in Parasola conopilea are predominantly (sub) lageniform or subglobose in shape and relatively large size, averaging 44 × 15 μm (as showed in Fig. 25 a – c ). Interestingly, Parasola crispa appears to occupy a transitional position between Parasola conopilea and Parasola psathyrelloid , as indicated by the degree of smoothness of their pileus. The detailed comparisons of the aforementioned Parasola species are presented in Table 2 .

In addition to species within sect. Conopileae , Parasola crispa is often macroscopically confused with Psathyrella amarescens Arnolds and Psathyrella corrugis (Pers.: Fr.) Konr. & Maubl due to their shared similar morphological features, such as conical, lacteous to pale brown-gray pileus with slight folding and slender stipes. However, stipes of these two Psathyrella species are covered with small, white, evanescent fibrils, particularly when young, and these two species possess fusiform cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia ( Yan 2018; Friebes and Melzer 2009). However, these features are absent in Parasola crispa .

Figures

Figure 6. Basidiomata of species in sect. Conopileae. a – e Parasola conopilea: a – c HMJAU 60340, d, e HMJAU 60339; f – k Parasola crispa: f HMJAU 60339, g HMJAU 60340, h HMJAU 60342, i HMJAU 64093, j HMJAU 60341, k HMJAU 64096.

Figure 7. Basidiomata and microscopic structures of Parasola crispa: a basidiomata (HMJAU 60339, HMJAU 60340, HMJAU 60341); b pileipellis (HMJAU 60339); c basidiospores (HMJAU 60339, HMJAU 64093, HMJAU 64096); d basidia (HMJAU 60339); e cheilocystidia (HMJAU 60339, HMJAU 60341); f pleurocystidia (HMJAU 60339, HMJAU 60341); g stipitipellis (HMJAU 60339). Scale bars: 1 cm (a); 10 μm (b – g).

Figure 25. Different connection type of lamellae and stipe of species in sect. Conopileae and sect. Parasola in macro- and micro-scopic a – c narrow adnate to adnate in sect. Conopileae (taking Parasola conopilea as an example): a the gill-stipe junction is equal in diameter or slightly narrower than the rest of the stipe, the surface of upper part of stipe pubescent; b clustered caulocystidia occur on the upper surface of the stipe; c illustration of junction part; d – g free in sect. Parasola (taking Parasola grisella as an example): d the connection part of stipe swelled into inverted trapezoidal shape in lateral view; e famellae removed from stipe with pseudocollarium in top view; f anatomical section of pseudocollarium in microscopic; g illustration of junction part.