Lamprospora aberrans sp. nov. (Pezizales) – the first species of Lamprospora with hairy apothecia

Abstract

Lamprospora aberrans is described as a new species based on collections from Spain (Community of Madrid and the island of Mallorca) and Croatia (Paklenica NP). It is unique due to the combination of globose ascospores ornamented with bent ridges, as well as stiff, thick-walled hyaline hairs -the latter feature unknown in the genus Lamprospora so far. It is the first species of bryophilous Pezizales known to infect mosses from the genus Gymnostomum (Pottiaceae, Pottiales). In the Bayesian analysis of LSU, SSU and EF1-α loci it clustered in a well-supported clade with L. cailletii, L. tuberculatella agg., L. benkertii and L. paechnatzii. The role of the hairs in the taxonomy of bryophilous Pezizales is discussed.