Ulocolla grisea Spirin 2026, comb. nov.
Abstract
Ulocolla grisea (Bres.) Spirin comb. nov. Figs 36 C, 37 ≡ Sebacina grisea Bres., Annales Mycologici 6: 45, 1908. = Thelephora grisea Pers., Mycologia Europaea 1: 149, 1822. Neotype (selected by Wells 1961: 343). France. [no locality indicated], Abies alba, 24 Apr 1900, Strasser (S F 350416, studied). = Exidiopsis grisea (Bres.) Bourdot & Maire, Bulletin de la Société Mycologique de France 36: 71, 1920. Description. Basidiomata annual, effused, up to 10 cm in the longest dimension, rarely larger, gelatinous, semitranslucent, up to 0.5 mm thick. Hymenial surface grayish, smooth or indistinctly tuberculate in fresh condition, bluish-gray and shining in herbarium. Margin sharply delimited, adnate. Hyphal structure monomitic, hyphae clamped; subicular hyphae hyaline or yellowish, thin- or slightly thick-walled, subparallel or interwoven, anastomosing, agglutinated, 1.5–4 μm in diam., subhymenial hyphae hyaline or yellowish, thin-walled, predominantly ascending, 1.5–4 μm in diam., occasionally inflated and then up to 5 μm in diam., basidia-bearing hyphae not differentiated. Crystals occasionally present, angular, scattered among hyphae, sometimes producing large concretions up to 25 μm in diam. Cystidia absent. Hyphidia thin-walled, with a thin-walled, hyaline, hyphoid or nodulose stem, 17–35 × 3–5 μm, and abundant, richly branched, hyaline apical outgrowths, 1–1.5 μm in diam. at the very apex, in older basidiomata partly embedded in gelatinous matrix and producing a continuous layer up to 30 μm thick. Probasidia usually tapering, more rarely narrowly clavate, 10–20 × 5–6 μm. Basidia four-celled, ellipsoid-ovoid to subglobose, occasionally with a distinctly narrowed, stalk-like base, (10 –) 10.5–15.5 (– 16) × (8.1 –) 8.3–12.2 (– 12.8) μm (n = 50 / 4), thin-walled, embedded, sterigmata up to 20 × 1.5–2 μm. Basidiospores thin-walled, broadly to narrowly cylindrical, distinctly curved, (9.0 –) 9.1–14.3 (– 15.1) × (3.9 –) 4.0–5.7 (– 5.8) μm (n = 180 / 6), L = 10.69–12.94, W = 4.60–5.06, Q = 2.23–2.62. Remarks. This species was first introduced by Persoon (1822) as Thelephora grisea. Although only macroscopic traits were mentioned in the protologue, there is a little doubt about the species Persoon dealt with – there are no other effused, semitranslucent, bluish-grayish, rather thick jelly fungi on coniferous wood in Europe. Unfortunately, Persoon’s T. grisea turned out to be a homonym of T. grisea Schwein.; the latter name was sanctioned by Fries (1828) and this made Persoon’s species name unavailable. It was resurrected by Bresadola (1908) who transferred T. grisea Pers. to Sebacina and thus made it available for future recombinations in other genera. Wells (1961) redescribed Exidiopsis grisea with a long list of synonyms which included, inter alia, E. effusa and Sebacina plumbescens. His view on the identity of E. grisea was contested by Donk (1966) and Reid (1970). Christiansen (1959), Oberwinkler (1963) and Wells and Raitviir (1977) reintroduced the species in the sense accepted here. No authentic material from Persoon is extant; Wells (1961) selected one of Bresadola’s specimens from Stockholm as a neotype of T. grisea. Ulocolla grisea is closely related to U. orbiculata from Far East Asia. Their differences are listed under the latter species. Exidiopsis effusa is macroscopically somewhat similar to U. grisea. However, U. grisea is restricted to wood remnants of conifers (especially Abies and Pinus) while E. effusa occurs exclusively on angiosperm hosts. The hymenophore of E. effusa often bears sharp projections and covered by whitish, easily removable pruina. In contrast, basidiomata of U. grisea are completely smooth or indistinctly tuberculate and possess no deposits on hymenial surface. Moreover, E. effusa has wider hyphae than U. grisea, which are often quite irregularly inflated, and its basidia are larger and basidiospores are on average longer than in the latter species. Protohydnum livescens is another effused conifer-dwelling species with rather thick gelationous basidiomata occurring in Europe. It differs from U. grisea by the pronounced reddish or brownish tints of dried specimens, as well as in having pedunculate basidia and wider basidiospores (see description in Spirin et al. 2025).
Authors 13
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University of Helsinki · Finnish Museum of Natural History
Affiliation as printed
Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, PO Box 7, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
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Komarov Botanical Institute, Prof. Popova str. 2, 197022 St. Petersburg, Russia
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Affiliation as printed
Organismic Botany and Mycology, Institute of Plant Science and Microbiology, Ohnhorststraße 18, 22609 Hamburg, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Société Linnéenne de Lyon, 33 rue Bossuet, 69006 Lyon, France
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Affiliation as printed
Österplana Skattegården 2, 53384 Hällekis, Sweden
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Affiliation as printed
Globe Institute, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1045, Blindern, N- 0316 Oslo, Norway
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University of Tennessee at Knoxville
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Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 1406 Circle Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
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Affiliation as printed
Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, P. O. Box 3000, FI- 90014 Oulu, Finland
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Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre
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Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, CZ 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
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National University of Misiones
Affiliation as printed
Instituto de Biotecnología Misiones (InBioMis), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Químicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Ruta Nacional N 12, km 7.5, Posadas, Misiones, CP 3304, Argentina & Instituto Misionero de Biodiversidad (IMiBio), Ruta Nacional N 12, km 5, Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, CP 3370, Argentina
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University of Helsinki · Finnish Museum of Natural History
Affiliation as printed
Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, PO Box 7, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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