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Xylaria aff. cinerea from Ethiopia with strange porus reaction (hemiamyloid?)
Andreas Gminder,
30-01-2020 22:56
Hello dear collegues,on re-examining my collections from the ethiopian rain forest, I came to this little Xylaria species which I can not identify.
Fruitbody club-shaped with distinct stalk, appr. 4 cm high (2 cm club, 2 cm stipe), greyish, with distinct black squamules dispersed on the club. Growing on very mossy wood.
Asci very long-stalked, 8-spored. Apical pore higher than broad, appr. 5 µm high, very distinct even in water. Spores dark brown, 23-28 x 7,8-8,2 µm, with sigmoid germ-slit not reaching the spores ends (appr. 15 µm long, ending 6-7 µm bevor the spore end)
Also it had a strange porus reaction, being blue in Lugol, redbrown in Melzers, violett in Lugol with KOH pre-treatment. When to the lugol preparation (blue reaction) KOH is added, the reaction vanishes completely. Is this called a hemiamyloid reaction?
ANy suggestions?
thank you and all the best,
Andreas
Jacques Fournier,
31-01-2020 15:07
Re : Xylaria aff. cinerea from Ethiopia with strange porus reaction (hemiamyloid?)
Hi Andreas,
from your photos and observations, I would suggest X. schweinitzii as the closest species, with some small differences in superficial coating and spore shape, but X. schweinitzii is widely distributed in Tropics and fairly variable.
I do not think the ascus plug can termed hemiamyloid but the reactions you got are unusual in Xylaria, especially the reaction with Melzer.
if you have the possibility to have this sample cultured and sequenced, a comparison with X. schweinitzii might be worth it.
Cheers,
Jacques
Andreas Gminder,
31-01-2020 21:55
Re : Xylaria aff. cinerea from Ethiopia with strange porus reaction (hemiamyloid?)
Dear Jacques,
merci beaucoup!
Xylaria schweinitzii would be a little bit disappointing. I thought it to be something "better", as the surface of the club didn't look anything like schweinitzii.
Marc Stadler offered me to culture the species and a sequence is done at the moment in Senckenberg anyway. So I will compare and let you know.
all the best,
Andreas
merci beaucoup!
Xylaria schweinitzii would be a little bit disappointing. I thought it to be something "better", as the surface of the club didn't look anything like schweinitzii.
Marc Stadler offered me to culture the species and a sequence is done at the moment in Senckenberg anyway. So I will compare and let you know.
all the best,
Andreas