A new species ofThottea (Aristolochiaceae) from India

Thottea ponmudiana sp. nova from Kerala (India) can readily be distinguished from its closest allyTh. siliquosa and all the other known species of the genus by its yellow flowers with purple eyes, deeply lobed perianth with strongly reflexed margins, uniseriate stamens united in three bundles and strongly 4-angled, green, glabrescent fruits.     

A new species ofLiparis (Orchidaceae) from India

Liparis indiraii spec. nova from India is close toL. alata A. Rich. andL. atropurpurea Lindl.     

Emericella qinqixianii, a new species from desert soil in China

Emericella qinqixianii, a new species isolated from desert soil from Sanchakou, Aksu, Qiemo, Yuli, Yutian, and the Taklimakan desert 100 km inland from Minfeng, Xinjiang Province, China, is described and illustrated. It is characterized by grayish yellow to olive brown, non-ostiolate ascomata surrounded by hyaline to pale yellowish brown hülle cells, membranaceous peridium, prototunicate asci, and violet-brown, lenticular ascospores with two equatorial crests, smooth convex surfaces, and long filiform appendages. It hasAspergillus anamorph with biseriate aspergilla.     

Isolation of zoosporogenous actinomycetes from desert soils

We have undertaken a study to estimate the species diversity of zoosporogenous actinomycetes that can be isolated from an arid environment. The study site encompassed an area of approximately 22 000 square kilometers of the Mojave Desert along the California-Nevada border. A series of 29 soil samples was collected along two intersecting transects of approximately 190 and 240 km which traversed a number of distinct ecosystems. A₀ horizon soils were collected from the rhizosphere of the predominant vegetation at each sampling site and screened for the target genera using selective isolation techniques: chemoattraction (xylose and -collidine) and baiting with hair. Following incubation of primary isolation plates for 28 days at 28°C, all colonies that exhibited filamentous growth, presence of sporangia and/or motile spores upon direct microscopic observation (450 and 1000×) were further characterized by fatty acid analysis (FAME). Most of the isolates fell into three broad clusters that roughly correlated with presumptive genus assignments. Individual isolates could be assigned to 226 FAME biotypes based on chromatographic similarity (85%). The dominant species (514/826 isolates) belong to a previously undescribed taxon that morphologically resemblesGeodermatophilus but possesses unique FAME profiles that include at least three novel lipids. The remainder of the isolates were species ofActinoplanes, indeterminate species or vagrant isolates ofStreptomyces.     

A new species of Phyllodiaptomus Kiefer (Copepoda,Calanoida) from South India

Phyllodiaptomus sasikumari, a new species of calanoid copepod is described from the material collected in several ephemeral ponds and pools in the Palghat District of Kerala State, South India.     

Amorphophallus nicolsonianus (Araceae), a new species from India

Amorphophallus nicolsonianus species nova, with cylindrical or napiform corms, is the only representative of the sect.Rapyogkos in India. All the other hitherto known species of this region have globose or depressed globose corms. The new species is related to some Indochinese species and toA. hildebrandtii ( Engl.)Engl. & Gehrm. from Madagascar.     

Pothos crassipedunculatus,a new species ofPothos sect.Allopothos (Araceae) from India

Pothos crassipedunculatusSivadasan & Mohanan (Araceae), a new species closely related to the SW. Indian endemic and little known speciesP. thomsonianusSchott is described. It is characterized by the the non-ligulate, shortly vaginate petiole, thickly peduncled inflorescence, broadly ovate spathe and a sessile spadix. It is included in ser.BrevivaginatiEngler of sect.AllopothosSchott.     

A new species ofAppendicospora from Hong Kong

A new species ofAppendicospora, A. honkongensis, occurring on fronds ofLivistona chinensis in Hong Kong is described and illustrated with interference contrast micrographs. It differs fromA. coryphae in having larger ascomata and ascospores, and a peridium of brown-walled cells. The differences betweenApiospora andAppendicospora are reexamined in the light of the cultural characteristics of the latter.     

A new species of the lichen genusDiploschistes from Australia

Diploschistes hensseniae Lumbsch & Elix is described as new to science. It is characterized by its terricolous habitat, perithecioid closed ascomata, relatively small spores, cylindrical asci, and the presence of diploschistesic and orsellinic acids in addition to lecanoric acid. It occurs on soil in arid regions of Australia.     

Two new lecanid rotifers from India

While working on the material collected from Calcutta and its environs, the author came across two new lecanid rotifers which have been described in this paper as a new species and a new variety.     

Fusarium nisikadoi, a new species from Japan

A new species ofFusarium, F. nisikadoi, isolated fromPhyllostachys nigra var.henonis (bamboo) andTriticum aestivum (wheat) in Japan, is described, illustrated and discussed. This species is differentiated from other known species of the genus by the following characteristics: whitish colony color, long zigzag-like chains of 0–3(-5)-septate clavate conidia, intermixed with pyriform conidia, produced mostly from monophialides and rarely from polyphialides in the aerial mycelium, very long and slender sporodochial conidia, and no chlamydospores. The long chains of septate conidia are known only in this species of the genusFusarium. The conidiophores on the aerial mycelium sometimes proliferate sympodially. The species is tentatively placed in the form-sectionLiseola.     

Rotala cookii: A new species ofLythraceae from India showingHippuris syndrome

A new aquatic species ofRotala (Rotala cookii) is described from Kerala, India. Growing in the flooded lowlands, along the coastal belt, the plant is a Hippuris mimic.     

A new species ofNeosartorya from Taiwan soil

A new species ofNeosartorya, N. multiplicata (anam.Aspergillus multiplicatus), isolated from soil collected at Houli, Taichung, in Taiwan, is described and illustrated. The species is characterized by its restricted growth on Czapek agar, white ascomata, nearly globose ascospores with ribbed surface ornamentation of several linear ridges, and a limited development of conidia on common media. A key to all accepted species of the genus is provided.     

A new species of Aspidosperma Mart. (Apocynaceae) from Bahia, Brazil

A new species,Aspidosperma thomasii, collected in the vicinity of Uruçuca is described. It belongs to subgenusAspidosperma sectionAspidosperma and is closely related to theA. parvifolium A. DC. group.     

A new species ofCortinarius sectionBolares from Japan

Cortinarius reticulisporus sp. nov., found in deciduous forests, is described and illustrated. It closely resemblesCortinarius rubicundulusin its pileus color and the vivid yellowing of the context on bruising, but differs from the latter in its subglobose to broadly ellipsoid basidiospores with quotient of the length/width smaller than 1.4 and particularly fine lines connecting warts when observed under SEM. The differences betweenCortinarius reticulisporus and other similar taxa are briefly discussed.     

Metal uptake byCaryophyllaceae species from metalliferous soils in northern Greece

Plant samples collected from 17 populations of 9 taxa of the generaDianthus, Minuartia, Scleranthus, andSilene (Caryophyllaceae), growing in 14 metalliferous sites of N Greece, and surface soil samples from their growth area were analysed for Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg. Metal uptake varies considerably between the populations. A resistance mechanism excluding Cu and Pb from the aerial parts of the plants over a wide range of the soil concentrations up to a critical soil level appeared to exist, whereas Zn concentrations in plants were analogously related to those of the soil.Scleranthus perennis subsp.perennis showed the highest Cu concentration (205 µg/g), whereasMinuartia cf.bulgarica hyperaccumulated Pb (1175 µg/g). Ca concentrations in plants were in most cases much higher than those in soil, whereas the contrary was true for Mg. As a result the Ca/Mg ratio, which was in almost all cases lower than 1 in the soil, was much increased in the plants.     

Veronica fridericae,a new species from eastern Turkey

Veronica fridericae spec. nova, described from the type locality in the S.E. Turkish province Van, is related toV. acrotheca andV. farinosa, both endemic to W. Iran. All 8 perennial species with pinnatifid leaves in S.W. Asia are presented in a key.     

A new species ofConiochaetidium from soil

A new species ofConiochaetidium isolated from soil of Iraq is described. The speciesC. nuciforme differs fromC. savoryi in the shape and size of the ascospores. A key to differentiate the accepted species of the genus is reported.     

A new species ofAristolochia (Aristolochiaceae) from India with co-evolutionary notes onA. indica and papilionid butterflies

Aristolochia krisagathra, a new species from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India is described, illustrated and included into a key to the four Indian species of the genus. Notes on the host-relationships of these species are also provided, paticularly ofA. indica to papilionid butterflies.     

Emericella omanensis,a new species from Oman soil

A new species ofEmericella isolated from forest soil in the Oman,E. omanensis, is described and illustrated. It differs from the other known species of the genus in having bivalvate ascospores with a tuberculate or verruculose convex wall. The new species is compared with the closely related speciesE. desertorum andE. echinulata.