A new species of Melanophyllum?

By Christian Lange & Jens H. Petersen

 

 

 

In the area close to the campus of The University of Ouagadougou, we made several collections of af small lepiotoid agaric of eyecatching habitus. The scaly cap and a well developed universal veil (se left photo) made us think of the genus Melanophyllum (right photo), furthermore characterized by strongly coloured spores with a very fine ornament of small warts. There are only described two species of this genus, one with red spores (M. haematospermum) and one with green spores (M. eyrei).

Our African species had whitish gills as young, changing over green to black at age. The mature spores were black, but as immature they were probably greenish, giving rise to the green colours of the gills.

SEM of the African species showed a spore ornament of very fine warts, resembling that of M. eyrei, se below.

 

Melanophyllum belliae nom. prov., Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (© Christian Lange)

 

Melanophyllum belliae nom. prov., spores in SEM (© Anni Sloth)
These spores are smooth in LM x 1000.

 

 

Melanophyllum eyrei, Denmark (© Thomas Læssøe)

 

Melanophyllum eyrei, spores in SEM (© Anni Sloth)
These spores are smooth in LM x 1000.

 

 

Melanophyllum haematospermum, Denmark (© JHP)

 

Melanophyllum haematospermum, spores in SEM (© Anni Sloth)
These spores are finely verrucose in LM x 1000.