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19
Typification of Gyromitra perlata, type-species of the
subgenus Discina (Discinaceae)
Nicolas VAN VOOREN
Ascomycete.org, 9 (2) : 19-22.
Février 2017
Mise en ligne le 25/02/2017
Abstract: Peziza perlata Fr., basionym of Gyromitra perlata, is the type-species of the subgenus Discina. As
many old names attached to supposed well-known species, its type is not clearly dened. Based on a sample
from Fries’ herbarium, we propose the neotypication of this name to x the main morphological and mi-
croscopic characters of the species.
Keywords: Ascomycota, E. Fries, nomenclature, Pezizales.
Résumé : Peziza perlata Fr., basionyme de Gyromitra perlata, est l’espèce-type du sous-genre Discina. Comme
beaucoup de noms anciens se rapportant à des espèces supposées bien connues, son type n’est pas claire-
ment déni. Sur la base d’un échantillon de l’herbier Fries, nous proposons la néotypication de ce nom
pour xer les principaux caractères morphologiques et microscopiques de l’espèce.
Mots-clés : Ascomycota, E. Fries, nomenclature, Pezizales.
Introduction
Gyromitra perlata (Fr. : Fr.) Harmaja is a widespread vernal cup-fun-
gus, easily determinable thanks to its morphology and microscopic
characters, especially its apiculate ascospores (conical-shaped). This
species is often cited in mycological literature under this name or
under its synonyms (see VAN VOOREN & MOREAU, 2009: 5) since its pu-
blication by FRIES (1822: 43, under the name Peziza perlata). The spe-
cies was designated as the type-species of Discina when FRIES (1849)
raised the latter to the rank of genus (“automatic type”, ICN Art. 9.1),
now considered as a subgenus of Gyromitra (HARMAJA, 1973; ABBOTT
& CURRAH, 1997; VAN VOOREN & MOREAU, 2009; METHVEN et al., 2013). This
typication was accepted by many authors (ECKBLAD, 1968; HARMAJA,
1969; KORF, 1972; DONADINI, 1985; ABBOTT & CURRAH, 1997; VAN VOOREN
& MOREAU, 2009; METHVEN et al., 2013). Unfortunately, as many other
old names, P. perlata is not clearly typied although it is a sanctioned
name. This note proposes the typication of P. perlata using a col-
lection made by Fries himself, housed in the UPS herbarium.
Material and methods
Morphology and cytology. — The observations of micro-cha-
racters were made on dried material; some small pieces of dried spe-
cimens were rehydrated for about twelve hours in water. The
following mounts were used to observe microscopic characters:
water and Methyl (Cotton) Blue in Lactophenol. Measurements of
ascospores were made in water and measured under the 1000× oil
immersion lens of transmission light microscopes, excluding the api-
culi. X represents the mean value of spore dimensions, and Qm the
mean ratio between spore length and width.
Microphotographs were taken using a digital camera mounted
directly on a microscope. Line drawings were made freehand to
scale.
Nomenclature. — All the references to articles of ICN come from
the Melbourne Code (MCNEILL et al., 2012). The registration of the
neotype was released in the MycoBank Database.
Revision of Fries’ material
Although FRIES (1822: 43) designated a putative collection or a
“type locality” in the protologue of Pezizaperlata (“v.v. in silva Bȯkeb,
prope Femsjȯ”), there is no collection in the historical herbarium of
Fries housed in UPS that could match with these data. As P. perlata
is a sanctioned name (ICN Art. 13.1), a type can be chosen among
all the references cited in Fries’ protologue (ICN Art. 10.2). Unfortu-
nately, no reference is cited. So in the absence of a holotype and be-
cause a lectotype cannot be designated, a neotype is required.
Luckily enough, there exists a collection made by Fries and housed
at UPS (Pl. 1). The label of this voucher is very explicit: “Peziza (Dis-
cina) perlata Fr. Upsala. E. collect. E. Fries”. It consists of two well-pre-
served specimens of a discinoid fungus with a dark brown
hymenium and a pale yellowish to ochre external surface (Pl. 1). This
collection could be the one illustrated in FRIES (1867, pl. LVI) because
it was collected in May 1863 in the forest of Alsike, county of Upp-
sala. In the same time, FRIES (1864) assigns this collection to his son
Robert, so it’s not possible to be unequivocally armative.
An examination of microscopic characters provided the following
data: Asci cylindrical, 8-spored. Paraphyses cylindrical, septate, en-
larged at the top, lled by a brown pigment in the upper part.
Ascospores narrow ellipsoid to subfusoid, sometimes inequilateral,
Fig. 1 – Peziza perlata.Microscopic characters of the neotype.
Tips of paraphyses and ascus, in water. Scale bar = 10 μm. Drawing
N. Van Vooren
40–46 × 13–17 (19.8) μm on free spores [X=43.7 × 15.8 μm, Qm=2.8,
n=10], and 25–30 × 12.5–14 μm in asci [X=27 × 13.3 μm, Qm=2.0,
n=24], hyaline, smooth or ornamented by very thin and low lines,
irregular and dicult to see, containing oil drops (partially fused on
this rehydrated material), with conical apiculi at each pole, reaching
9 μm in length.
Designation of a neotype
These characters, especially the typical shape of the apiculi, are
in agreement with our modern concept of Gyromitra perlata, even
if the spore length (for free ascospores) is rather important in com-
parison with data found in literature or in our own collections (rea-
ching 40 μm in length). Such a length could be interpreted as more
in accordance with the spore dimensions of G. uctuans (Nyl.) Har-
maja or G.macrospora Bubák, two species generally considered as
synonyms (see VAN VOOREN & MOREAU, 2009: 6), with ascospores rea-
ching 45 μm in length. ABBOTT & CURRAH (1997) considered these spe-
cies to belong to the G.perlata complex. METHVEN et al. (2013) consi-
dered also G. macrospora as a synonym of G.perlata based on their
phylogenetic analyses, but we think this result has to be conrmed
with analyses of European material. It is also very important to note
that Gyromitra species have a slow process of maturity, often requi-
ring several weeks to provide fully mature ascospores (with their
correct ornamentation and size). We have also observed sponta-
neous spore-prints on some collections of G. perlata with “immature”
ascospores! In this context, it is not surprising that the spore dimen-
sions of this species are given with a large range in literature, and
were at the origin of several names. Another hypothesis is that G.
perlata represents a complex of species. Deeper investigations, in-
cluding phylogenetic analyses, will be necessary to answer this
question.
As the samples presented above agrees with Fries’ protologue of
Peziza perlata and our modern concept of this species, we designate
here the collection F-144599 (UPS) as neotype of Peziza perlata Fr.;
MBT 374876.
20 Ascomycete.org
Plate 1 – Peziza perlata.Fries’ collection F-144599 from UPS. Photo I. Olariaga (with the agreement of UPS herbarium).
Perspectives for the future
The attempts to extract ribosomal DNA from small pieces of this
neotype failed, although the material appears in good condition.
The label of the voucher does not indicate any date but we suppose
that the sample was collected in the rst middle of the 19th century,
probably causing this failure. In those conditions, it could be useful
to nd a more recent collection of Gyromitra perlata, from Sweden,
in the area around Femsjö, and compliant with the designated neo-
type. This collection may serve to obtain some reference sequences,
and designated as an epitype (ICN Art. 9.8).
Finally the typication of Peziza perlata could also be useful to en-
gage a process of conservation of this name against Peziza ancilis
Pers., which is considered by some authors (REHM, 1896; KREISEL, 1984;
BEUG et al., 2014) as a prior synonym, an opinion that we do not share
(see VAN VOOREN & MOREAU, 2009). Note that the mention “= ancilis”
on the label (Pl. 1) was not written by Fries and cannot be used as
an evidence of the synonymy between those two names.
Acknowledgements
We are extremely grateful to Ibai Olariaga for his assistance in the
study of Fries’ material and his micrographs. Thanks also to the cu-
rators of UPS herbarium who made this study possible. We warmly
acknowledge Martin Bemmann for his bibliographical suggestions
and Karl Soop for the translation of Fries’ text about Discina perlata
published in 1864.
References
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BEUG M.W., BESSETTE A.E. & BESSETTE A.R. 2014. — Ascomycete Fungi of
North America. Austin, University of Texas Press, 488 pp.
DONADINI J.-C. 1985 [1984]. — Étude des discomycètes IV. Le genre
Discina (1). Mycologia Helvetica, 1 (4): 251-266.
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Ascomycete.org
Plate 2 – Peziza perlata.Microscopic characters of the neotype.
A: Tips of paraphyses. B: Ascospores in an ascus. C: Sporogram. Photos I. Olariaga.
AB
C
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