Known and two new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhytisma</Emphasis> (Rhytismatales,Ascomycota) from China

Three species of Rhytisma are described based on recently collected specimens from the Anhui province, China. Rhytisma anhuiense is a new species causing a serious tar spot disease on Rhododendron simsii. Rhytisma yuexiense is a new species, which develops its stromata only on fallen leaves of Rhododendron ovatum. Rhytisma himalense on Ilex fargesii is a known species and probably widely distributed in China. Including the two new species, 11 species of Rhytisma are known from China which are presented in a key.     

A new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chamaecrista</Emphasis> sect. <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chamaecrista</Emphasis> ser. <Emphasis Type="Italic">Flexuosae</Emphasis> (Leguminosae,Caesalpinioideae) from Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais,Brazil

A new species, Chamaecrista truncata, from southeastern Brazil, is described, illustrated and compared to its putative closest relative, C. parvistipula. The new species belongs to Chamaecrista sect. Chamaecrista ser. Flexuosae which is characterized by asymmetrical leaflets with palmate venation, quadrangular stems and axillary peduncles. Additionally, the venation pattern of the leaflets and the different types of stipules observed within this series are shown.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Colletoecema gabonensis</Emphasis>, a third species of an unusual African genus of Rubiaceae

As a result of ongoing studies of the Rubiaceae of Gabon, the new species Colletoecema gabonensis is here described and illustrated. It is endemic to Gabon, where it is the only species of the genus, and is so far only known from three collections from the Ogooué-Lolo and Ngounié provinces. The new species is morphologically intermediate between its two congeners, C. dewevrei (from Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, DR Congo, and Angola) and C. magna (endemic to Cameroon). The new species agrees with C. dewevrei in having flowers with exserted anthers and style, but differs in its sessile flowers and fruits. In the latter characters, it resembles C. magna, from which it can be separated by its smaller fruits and leaves, and by its different floral morphology. An IUCN conservation assessment has been made and the species is provisionally assessed as Vulnerable, based on its restricted area of occupancy and the small number of known locations.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Passiflora cristalina,</Emphasis> a striking new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Passiflora</Emphasis> (Passifloraceae) from Mato Grosso,Brazil

A new red-flowered species of Passiflora, P. cristalina Vanderpl. & Zappi, is described from the tropical rainforest of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The species is illustrated and its affinities with related species are discussed, and a key to the species of supersect. Distephana to which it belongs is provided.     

A new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mentzelia</Emphasis> section <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bartonia</Emphasis> (Loasaceae) from the Grand Canyon,Arizona

Mentzelia hualapaiensis, a new species of Mentzelia sect. Bartonia, is described from the Grand Canyon region of Arizona. The new species is closely related to M. puberula, which is found west of M. hualapaiensis along the Colorado River, and to M. oreophila, M. polita, and M. tiehmii. It shares with these species a suffrutescent shoot system characterized by a subterranean, branching caudex, multiple annual branches, and similar leaves that have shallowly lobed or toothed to entire laminas. The flowers of M. hualapaiensis differ from those of its closest relatives in having cream-white, linear to narrowly spatulate petals and staminodes, characteristics that are convergent with those of the flowers of the Chihuahuan Desert species M. humilis.     

A new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cortinarius</Emphasis> sect. <Emphasis Type="Italic">Orellani</Emphasis> from Japan

Cortinarius breviradicatus sp. nov., found in deciduous forests, is described and illustrated from Niigata, Japan. It is characterized by its medium-sized to large dark brown basidiocarp, acutely conical pileus, and rooting stipe, and by subglobose to broadly ellipsoid basidiospores. In addition, the extracting solution from its basidiocarps exhibits a strong fluorescence around 400–430 nm in ultraviolet radiation (250 nm), which was observed in a species of Cortinarius sect. Orellani. The new species belongs to the section Orellani. The differences between the new taxon and similar species are briefly discussed.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Grias theobromicarpa</Emphasis> (Lecythidaceae), a new species from northwestern Ecuador

Grias theobromicarpa, a new species from northwestern Ecuador is described. This species is found in wet forests at ca. 1500 m elevation, and is distinguished by its erect petals that conceal the androecium, filaments fused to form a very distinct staminal tube, anthers that are oblong with cucullate connectives enclosing most of the thecae, and especially by its fruits, which are prominently ridged when fresh. The species is illustrated and its relationship with its closest relative, G. purpuripetala, from southwestern Colombia, is discussed.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Clestobothrium gibsoni</Emphasis> n. sp. (Cestoda: Bothriocephalidae) from the bullseye grenadier <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bathygadus macrops</Emphasis> Goode &; Bean (Macrouridae) in the Gulf of Mexico

Clestobothrium gibsoni n. sp. is described from the intestine of the bullseye grenadier Bathygadus macrops (Macrouridae) collected in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The new species can be distinguished from both C. crassiceps (Rudolphi, 1819), the type-species of the genus, and C. neglectum (Lönnberg, 1893), the second species in the genus, by its unique ovary, which is transversely elongate and tapered on both ends rather than being U-or H-shaped, and by having more testes (60-65 vs 40-50 and 35-45 per proglottid). The new species is also compared to Bothriocephalus acheilognathi Yamaguti, 1934 and B. kivuensis Baer & Fain, 1954, two species with similar scoleces which have previously been assigned to Clestobothrium . The generic diagnosis of Clestobothrium is amended to include species with either anoperculate or operculate eggs. This is the first report of an adult tapeworm from a species of Bathygadus , and the first report of a species of Clestobothrium Lühe, 1899 (Bothriocephalidae) from the Gulf of Mexico.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Byssoloma rubromarginatum</Emphasis> (Pilocarpaceae: Ascomycota), a new corticolous species from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nothofagus</Emphasis> forests in Argentina

A new corticolous species of Byssoloma, B. rubromarginatum Messuti and de la Rosa from Nothofagus dombeyi forests is described and illustrated. The new species is characterized by the morphology of the thallus and apothecia, the 3–5 (7)-septate ascospores, the presence of an anthraquinone in the exciple, and its ecology. It is the first species within the genus known to have gyrophoric acid in the apothecial margin. A key to Byssoloma species known from Nothofagus temperate forests in South America is provided.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Kazachstania wufongensis</Emphasis> sp. nov., an ascosporogenous yeast isolated from soil in Taiwan

A new yeast species, Kazachstania wufongensis, is proposed in this paper based on six strains isolated from soil in Taiwan. The species may produce one to four ellipsoidal ascospores in each ascus, directly transformed from diploid cells. Genus assignment and distinction of the species from other recognized species of Kazachstania is based on morphological and physiological characteristics, and on phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences of the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene. Sequence analysis of the D1/D2 domains of the LSU rRNA gene reveals that K. wufongensis is a member of the Kazachstania exigua complex, and its phylogenetically closest relatives are K. exigua, K. barnettii, K. bulderi, and K. turicensis. The species can be further differentiated from the other phylogenetically related species based on internal transcribed spacer sequence and electrophoretic karyotype. Therefore, the new species Kazachstania wufongensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of this new species, which was isolated from forest soil in Wufong, Hsinchu, Taiwan, is FN21S03^T (=CBS 10886^T = BCRC 23138^T).     

Morphology,taxonomy, ecology,and distribution of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cyclotella choctawhatcheeana</Emphasis> prasad (Bacillariophyta)

A study of the widespread centric diatom Cyclotella choctawhatcheeana has revealed the variability of qualitative and quantitative morphological diagnostic features, as well as the presence of initial cells, and allowed us to obtain new data on the ecology and distribution of the species. On the basis of original and literature data, the diagnosis of the species is emended. The conspecificity of C. tuberculata, which is common for waterbodies of the former Soviet Union, with C. choctawhatcheeana, which is new for the flora of Russia, is confirmed, making it possible to bring the first species into the synonymy of the latter. The study of samples of C. caspia from the Caspian Sea which are similar in morphology and ecology allowed us to define the variability of some features of this species and its relationship with C. choctawhatcheeana and to evaluate its taxonomical importance for some of them.     

Two new <Emphasis Type="Italic">Corollospora</Emphasis> species and one new anamorph based on morphological and molecular data

Two new species of the genus Corollospora, namely, C. anglusa sp. nov. with its anamorph Varicosporina anglusa sp. nov. and C. portsaidica sp. nov., which were isolated from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt, are described in this article based on morphological and molecular evidence. The two new species have one-septate ascospores. Corollospora anglusa resembles C. gracilis by having narrow one-septate hyaline ascospores; however, they differ in ascomata and ascospore dimensions and in pure culture characteristics. Single-ascospore culture of C. anglusa produces the conidia of its anamorph, whereas an anamorph has not been reported for C. gracilis. Varicosporina anglusa differs from the other two known Varicosporina species by having conidial branches that are filamentous, rectangularly branched, hypha like, and disarticulated into two- or one-celled fragments. Corollospora portsaidica is morphologically similar to C. cinnamomea, but the two species differ in the dimensions, shape, and ornamentation of the ascospores. The new Corollospora species were confirmed to be divergent from other similar Corollospora species based on phylogenetic analyses of partial sequences of the LSU rDNA region.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Prorocentrum rivalis</Emphasis> sp. nov. (Dinophyceae) and its phylogenetic affinities inferred from analysis of a mixed morphological and LSU rRNA data set

A new freshwater epiphytic Prorocentrum species, Prorocentrum rivalis, from the temperate region of the Haute-Vienne, France, is described. This species is the third freshwater species identified among approximately 60 marine Prorocentrum species. This new species is described using scanning electron microscope and phylogenetic analyses by a polyphasic approach (LSU rRNA sequences combined with 9 morphological characters). The phylogenetic analysis attests that P. rivalis is close to other planktonic freshwater species and the freshwater Prorocentrum clade is evolutionarily derived from an epiphytic freshwater prorocentroid ancestor. The unique marine species in the freshwater clade results from an ecophysiological reversion. P. rivalis differs from other epiphytic taxa by its rarity, its temperate distribution and its ecophysiological needs. The phylogeny confirms also that all planktonic Prorocentrum species are evolutionarily derived from epiphytic/benthic ancestors.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Moldenhawera intermedia</Emphasis> (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), a new species from the Brazilian state of Bahia

A new species of Moldenhawera is described from the state of Bahia in Brazil. Moldenhawera intermedia differs from all other species in the genus by its combination of pinnate leaves with acute to caudate apices, its pink petals, pentamerous flowers, and the staminode filaments 1.5 to 2.5 × longer than the anthers which dehisce by slits not pores. The species has a suite of morphological characters that place it intermediate between all three described sections of the genus, suggesting that the supra-specific taxonomy of Moldenhawera will benefit from a future reappraisal.     

Symbiotic association between <Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanderia secunda</Emphasis> (Cnidaria,Hydrozoa, Solanderiidae) and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Medioantenna variopinta</Emphasis> sp. nov. (Annelida,Polychaeta, Polynoidae) from North Sulawesi (Indonesia)

A mimic scale-worm was found associated with the athecate hydroid Solanderia secunda, commonly found on reefs of the NW coast of North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The species resembled Medioantenna clavata Imajima 1997, which was originally described without any reference to a symbiotic mode of life and later reported to be living on a solanderiid hydroid both in Japanese waters. A detailed morphological analysis led us to consider the Indonesian specimens as a new species, namely Medioantenna variopinta sp. nov., which is congeneric with the Japanese species. The new species differs from the type material of M. clavata as it has elytra with one prominent finger-like papilla and all neurochaetae with unidentate tip, instead of an elytral lump and both unidentate and bidentate neurochaetae on segment two. In turn, the Japanese worms associated with Solanderia are here referred to our new species. Two morphological features in M. variopinta sp. nov. are rather unusual among scale-worms. One of them is its extremely high level of bilateral asymmetry and antero-posterior variability in elytral distribution and the other one is its elongated, upwardly directed nephridial papillae. The morphology and geographical distribution of the host together with the known characteristics of the symbiotic association have also been highlighted.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Aulonemia cochabambensis</Emphasis> (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Bambuseae: Arthrostylidiinae), an anomalous new species from Bolivia

Aulonemia cochabambensis (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Bambuseae: Arthrostylidiinae), a new species from the Department of Cochabamba, Bolivia, is described and illustrated. It has foliage leaves with delicate fimbriae, no sheath auricles, narrow blades, an abaxial dark marginal stripe, and intercostal sclerenchyma; few-flowered paniculate synflorescences; and robust, awned spikelets. The new species is compared with its putative relatives Aulonemia laxa and Arthrostylidium schomburgkii. A key to the species of Aulonemia in Bolivia is also included.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Zornia decussata</Emphasis> (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Dalbergieae), a new species from the Amazon region of Venezuela

Zornia decussata, a new species from Venezuela, is described and illustrated. It belongs to sect. Anisophylla of subgen. Zornia and occurs in the Federal Territory of Amazonas, in the region of Rincones de Chacorro. The species is characterised mainly by its decussate bracteoles which lack an auricle, by the presence of a cataphyll between the stipules and by the delicate habit of the plant.