IMA Fungus 4(1): 103-109, doi: 10.5598/imafungus.2013.04.01.10
The identity of Cintractia carpophila var. kenaica: reclassification of a North American smut on Carex micropoda as a distinct species of Anthracoidea
Marcin Piatek‡‡ W.Szafer Institute of Botany, Krakow, Poland
© Marcin Piatek. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes, provided that the article is not altered or modified and the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Piatek M (2013) The identity of Cintractia carpophila var. kenaica: reclassification of a North American smut on Carex micropoda as a distinct species of Anthracoidea. IMA Fungus 4(1): 103-109. https://doi.org/10.5598/imafungus.2013.04.01.10 |  |
Abstract
Cintractia carpophila var. kenaica, a neglected taxon described from Alaska more than half a century ago, is re-described and illustrated. Its nomenclature and taxonomic status are discussed. This smut species is characterised by small spores with a very finely verruculose surface rarely enclosed by a thin, hyaline, mucilaginous sheath, a wall with 2–5 distinct internal swellings, and parasitism on Carex micropoda (Carex sect. Dornera). It is reallocated to the genus Anthracoidea as a distinct species, Anthracoidea kenaica comb. nov, and assigned to Anthracoidea section Leiosporae which includes species having smooth or very finely verruculose spores. Morphological and biological characteristics of the five most similar Anthracoidea species are contrasted and discussed.
Keywords
Anthracoidea, Carex, Cintractia, Historical collections, North America, Smut fungi, Ustilaginales