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Thelephora fungicola (Litsch.) Kõljalg, I. Saar & Svantesson 2024

Syn.: Tomentella fungicola Litsch. 1933

Basidiome effused, fragile, loosely adherent, slightly pellicular.
Hymenophore smooth, continuous, pruinose, pulverulent, almost detachable from subiculum, uniformly olivaceous yellow (2.5Y–10YR 6/6).
Subiculum araneous, hypochnoid, dark olivaceous brown to dark reddish brown, 2.5Y–5YR 3/2, distinctly darker than the fertile area.
Margin indistinct or shortly thinning out and concolour with the subiculum.
Rhizomorphs present in subiculum and more frequently in cracks of the substrate, up to 0.1 mm thick, rigid, brownish to dark brown.

Hyphal system dimitic with skeletal hyphae associated with rhizomorphs.
Subicular hyphae regular, mostly with fibulate primary septa but frequently also with simple-septate segments and frequent secondary septa, 5–7 µm, with thickening or thick wall and localized thickenings, yellow brown to brown; some narrow hyphae, 2.5–4 µm diam. with adventitious simple septa can also be found because spreading off from rhizomorphs.
Subhymenial hyphae fibulate, 4–10 µm, sometimes with short and slightly botryose cells, soon with thickening wall, hyaline to yellowish.
Rhizomorphs starting as thin strands of generative hyphae 5–8 µm wide with thick walls (up to 2 µm), branched and becoming progressively thinner with less fibulate septa and frequent simple septa, giving rise to straight or slightly sinuous skeletal hyphae sometimes branching without septa and frequent secondary septa, 1.5–2.5 µm in diam.; well developed rhizomorphs with numerous skeletal hyphae on surface.
Cystidia absent.
Basidia subcylindrical, slightly sinuous, 40–60 x 8–11 µm, fibulate at the basal septum; 4 sterigmata 6–9 µm long and 1.5–2.5 µm wide at the base.
Basidiospores with regular outline; in side view subglobose to broadly ellipsoid with convex or slightly flattening adaxial side; in frontal view globose to subglobose or broadly ovoid; in polar view globose to subglobose; (8.8) 9.0–10.45–12.0 (12.4) µm long, (7.2) 7.4–8.61–9.4 (9.6) µm in side view, (8.5) 8.8–9.64–10.4 (11.0) µm in frontal view, Q¹ = (1.09) 1.13–1.23–1.30 (1.33), Q² = (1.00) 1.04–1.07–1.11 (1.13), echinulate, with rather thin walls (0.2–0.5 µm) yellowish to ochraceous. Aculei up to 2 (2.5) µm long and 0.5–1 (1.2) µm wide at the base. Apiculus IKI—.

Description: Elia Martini

Drawings: Elia Martini