Alnicola (Naucoria), Meottomyces, and Phaeogalera

© Steve Trudell

Danny’s DNA Discoveries – Alnicola (Naucoria), Meottomyces, and Phaeogalera of the PNW
by Danny Miller

(there's not much call for a picture key of species)

Introduction

Here are a few interesting miscellaneous genera in the large Hymenogastraceae family (or perhaps it should be called a super-family).

Alnicola (Naucoria) - unusual LBMs that are mycorrhizal, perhaps you'll be able to recognize them from among the myraid other LBMs by their tendency to have a dry, flat cap and grow under alder and willow. Naucoria seems to be the older name, but some sources are still using Alnicola. I await a final ruling.

Alnicola may need to be split into three genera: A. salicis and A. bohemica into a second genus (members are present in the PNW) and A. submelinoides and A. alnetorum into a third genus.

Meottomyces - only recently discovered in the PNW, they are small to medium sized on the ground with a greasy to sticky cap and perhaps a ring, but have no unusual odor (unlike the similar Hebeloma).

Phaeogalera - much like Galerina, except with a germ pore. They have smooth brown spores and a dry cap (Galerina might too, but often have warty spores and a viscid cap). Smith placed them all in Galerina in a section he called Porospora (those with germ pores).

abundant common uncommon rare - colour codes match my Pictorial Key and are my opinions and probably reflect my bias of living in W WA. Rare species may be locally common in certain places at certain times.

Summary of Interesting Results
Here are some of the newest, most interesting results of the study:

TBD

Alnicola (Naucoria) - click to expand
For a non descript LBM, Alnicola has been studied quite extensively in Europe by Moreau, so we have good sequences of many species... yet still many of ours are turning out to be different undescribed species.

Alnicola sp. 'escharioides-PNW01' - our most common species, with a dozen sequences from WA and BC, is over 1% different than the many EU sequences we have, and may be a distinct species. One AK sequence is only 4 bp different from EU sequences, so it looks like Alaska has the real species. It can be somewhat variable in appearance. One collection even had somewhat decurrent gills. The spores are about 7-10 x 4-6u.

Alnicola sp. 'PNW02' - We have one sequence from Vancouver Island and two from WA that make up a distinct species. The spores are about 10-12 x 5.5-6.5u.

Alnicola sp. 'PNW03' - One WA and one northern BC sequence have lots of ambiguous locations, but there are other significant differences from any other known species so I think this is distinct. No known photos.

Alnicola sp. 'PNW08' (=A. badia EU?) (=A. xanthophylla EU?) - one northern BC sequence and one WA sequence is between these 2 species, 2 bp and 1 indel from from A. badia and 1 bp and 3 indels from A. xanthophylla. Alnicola longicystis is also very close to these species.

Naucoria sp. 'CA01' - a close relative of PNW01, PNW02, and PNW08, known from CA and one collection in ID.

Alnicola sp. 'PNW10' - another close relative, found in WA.

Alnicola sp. 'ID01' - differs by about 6 characters (and 4 ambiguous characters) in ITS from PNW10.

Alnicola luteolofibrillosa EU - pale gills and lots of white thread-like veil material all over the cap and stem. Moreau has officially reported a WA sequence of this EU species, but we haven't seen it or found one ourselves.

Alnicola sp. 'luteolofibrillosa-PNW06' - a very similar species, but differs by 7 bp in ITS, so may be distinct, known from one OR collection.

Alnicola sp. 'luteolofibrillosa-PNW09' - another species in this complex, known from one ID collection.

Alnicola cholea EU - one OR collection from alpine willow matches type area sequences of this species.

Naucoria washingtonensis WA - no data yet. Perhaps it is one of the above.

Alnicola sp. 'escharioides-PNW01' © Yi-Min Wang,     A. sp. 'PNW08' © Yi-Min Wang,     A. sp. 'CA01' © Ed Barge,     A. sp. 'PNW10' © Yi-Min Wang

Alnicola sp. 'luteolofibrillosa-PNW06' © Connor Dooley,     A. sp. 'luteolofibrillosa-PNW09' © Ed Barge

Alnicola sp. 'PNW02' © Yi-Min Wang (6 images)

Alnicola sp. 'amarescens/geraniolens-PNW07' - under willow, brownish orange cap drying to pale. Odor of geraniums. The first species is bitter, the second is mild tasting. these two EU species don't seem to be distinguishable very well by ITS, and this one WA collection matches them both quite well and may be one of those two species. Alnicola tantilla EU is also very close in ITS. These species are outside of Moreau's definition of Alnicola s.s., but sister to it and will probably stay in this genus.

Alnicola sp. 'amarescens/geraniolens-PNW07' © NAMA and the Field Museum

Section Salicicola (Bohemica) - these clade distantly from the others. Multi-gene analysis shows reasonable support for it being inside Alnicola, but that might require Hymenogaster (which may also be polyphyletic) to be combined with Alnicola. For now, I identify them separately as Alnicola2.

'Alnicola2' salicis EU - recognized by being associated with willow, not alder, with very large spores (up to 20u). A WA collection matches most EU type area sequences.

'Alnicola2' macrospora EU - many EU type area sequences agree on what this is, and an ID collection matches it. It is often misidentified as A. salicis.

'Alnicola2' sp. 'salicis-PNW04' - This WA collection is at least 5% different in ITS from both EU concepts of this species and most probably needs a name.

'Alnicola2' sp. 'bohemica-PNW05' - one recent collection in grass near hardwoods (neither willow nor alder but oak) turned out to be in this EU species complex in the same section as A. salicis, also with large spores (14u). Some fruitbodies (pictured) had unusually stocky stems, but other nearby fruitbodies were more slender. It is close to a bunch of sequences of A. bohemica, but differs by 1-3% in ITS1 only (ITS2 seems to be the same). I don't know if that implies it is a distinct species or not. Perhaps if we can verify the trees that A. bohemica are mycorrhizal with, and see if our collection was with the same or a different kind of tree, that will help us figure out if ours is that species or not.

'Alnicola2' sp. 'salicis-PNW04' © Yi-Min Wang,     'Alnicola2' sp. 'bohemica-PNW05' © Yi-Min Wang

Section Submelinoides - a third clade that may need a new genus. I have not seen a multi-gene study of it.

Alnicola3 submelinoides EU - one WA collection matches Moreau's concept of this species.

Alnicola3 inculta (=alnetorum EU?) EU - one ID collection matches Moreau's concept of A. inculta. It also matches a half dozen EU type area sequences of A. alnetorum, as well as a couple sequences labeled A. alnetorum var. celluloderma. This may be a newer synonym.

'Alnicola3' submelinoides © Yi-Min Wang,     'Alnicola3' inculta © Ed Barge

Meottomyces - click to expand

Meottomyces dissimulans UK - small to medium sized on the ground with a greasy to sticky somewhat hygrophanous cap (although the second picture is quite hygrophanous), slightly decurrent gills, a possible ring, and and no unusual odor (unlike the similar Hebeloma). One UK sequence from the type area matches 3 CA sequences and our 1 WA and OR collections. Smith described Pholiota mutans MI and Pholiota striatula CO, which are now assumed to be Meottomyces species. Neither were recorded from the PNW, but it could be investigated if these are distinct species or just synonyms of Meottomyces dissimulans.

Meottomyces dissimulans © Derek Hevel and Bee Marcotte

Phaeogalera - click to expand

Phaeogalera sp. 'PNW01' - Phaeogalera are much like Galerina, except with a germ pore. They have smooth brown spores and a dry cap and are found on the ground. This species has much smaller spores than other Phaeogalera (<10u long). Either this or Phaeogalera PNW02 is likely 'Galerina' subtruncata WA. We need a type sequence to prove that's what this WA collection is. The species was described from wet moss, but one collection was found in the forest.

Phaeogalera sp. 'PNW02' - differs in a few positions in ITS, it could be a separate species, also with small spores (6-7u x 3.5-4u). Because of the unique spore size, one or both of PNW01 and PNW02 are likely Galerina subtruncata WA. One collection was found in moss, one not.

'Galerina' subdecurrens WA - described from forest habitat, this is similar, but with spores 10-12 x 4-5u. This probably needs moving to Phaeogalera. We don't have DNA yet.

'Pholiota' subpapillata ID - similar. We have a type sequence. It was described from chip-dirt, and our collection was found in the forest, with one collection attached to conifer wood. This still needs to be moved to Phaeogalera. We have one recent WA collection.

Phaeogalera stagnina EU - found in wet peatland moss, and with spores 13-16 x 8-10u. We have an OR collection that matches one haplotype of EU collections. Haplotype #1 and a hybrid are found in the EU. Ours is haplotype #2. It should be investigated if it is a different species that can hybridize with P. stagnina or if it is P. stagnina. For now, I'm assuming it is.

Phaeogalera sp. 'PNW01' © Yi-Min Wang (2 images), 'Pholiota' subpapillata' © Sandra Ruffner, Phaeogalera stagnina © Connor Dooley

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