Hygrocybe noelokelani Desjardin et Hemmes, sp. nov., var. noelokelani

Pileus 10-30(-40) mm latus, convexus vel planoconvexus, disco depressus, margine striatus, glaber, glutinosus, roseus vel subroseus, dein pallide griseoroseus. Lamellae late adnatae vel arcuatae, distantes, subroseae. Stipes (20-)25-40(-45) X 2-5(-8) mm, aequalis, glaber, glutinosus, luteus, deorsum alboluteus. Odor et sapor nulli. Sporae 6.0-8.0(-8.3) X 4.0-6.0 µm, late ellipsoideae vel ovoideae, haud constrictae. Basidia 32-40 X 5.4-6.7 µm, tetrasporigera. Lamellarum acies sterilis, cellulis cylindraceis, erectis instructa, 16-45(-55) X 1.8-3.5 µm. Pileipellis ixotrichodermiformis, ex hyphis filamentosis, erectis, ramosis, 1.6-4.8 µm latis, gelatinosis. Lamellarum trama subregularis, ex hyphis brevibus, inflatis vel cylindraceis, 16-80 X 3-12(-20) µm. Stipitepellis ixotrichodermiformis. Fibulae praesentes. Holotypus: Hawai`i, Saddle Rd. at 18.5 mi kipuka, 6 June 1994, D. E. Hemmes 455 (SFSU; Isotypus: BISH).

Pileus (Fig. 15) 10-30(-40) mm diam, convex when young, soon broadly convex to plano convex with a shallow central depression, sometimes plane; margin striate, sometimes uplifted or crenulate in age; surface glabrous, thinly glutinous when young, soon viscid, glutin unpigmented; when young deep pink (9-12A3-4), pastel red (9-10A5-6) or pale red (7-8A3-4) overall or with a slightly paler margin, fading with maturity through pale greyish pink or greyish red (8-9B3-4) to pink (9-11A2-3) on the disc and pink to pale pinkish white (7-8A2) on the margin, typically pale pink overall at maturity, seldom fading to nearly white on the margin; pileus never with yellow, orange, green or violet tones. Context thin (0.75-1.5 mm), watery-concolorous with the pileus surface. Lamellae broadly adnate to arcuate when young, subdecurrent in age, horizontal, straight to slightly concave, distant with 2-3 series of lamellulae, broad (2-3 mm), relatively thick and waxy; when young pale pinkish white (7-8A2) to pink (9-10A2), remaining so in age or fading slightly; edges sometimes subtranslucent and subgelatinous. Stipe (20-)25-40(-45) X 2-5(-8) mm, central or slightly eccentric, terete, ± equal, seldom with a slightly enlarged base, glabrous, hollow, thickly glutinous when young, viscid in age, glutin unpigmented; yellow(3-4A4-5) overall when young, apex fading with age to pale yellowish white (3-4A2) or nearly white, base remaining yellow at maturity or fading slightly. Odor and taste not distinctive.
Basidiospores (Fig. 16) 6.0-8.0(-8.3) X 4-6 µm [range of means = 6.6-7.4 X 4.5-5.5 µm, mean of means = 6.9 ± 0.4 X 4.9 ± 0.5 µm, Q = 1.2-1.6, range of Q means =1.35-1.48, mean of Q means = 1.43 ± 0.07, n = 20-25 spores per 4 specimens], broadly ellipsoid or ovoid, inequilateral in profile, not constricted, with a prominent hilar appendix, smooth, hyaline, inamyloid, thin-walled, white in deposit. Basidia (Fig. 17) 32-40 X 5.4-6.7 µm, 4-spored, subclavate, clamped. Basidioles subclavate. Cheilocystidia (Fig. 18) abundant, lamellar edge sterile, 16-45(-55) X 1.8-3.5 µm, filamentous, often irregular in outline, sometimes branched or with knob-like projections, obtuse, hyaline, thin-walled, clamped. Pleurocystidia absent. Pileipellis a thick, ixotrichodermium to ixolattice; hyphae 1.6-4.8 µm diam, loosely interwoven, cylindrical, imbedded in a gelatinous matrix, branched, with scattered finger like projections, most septa unclamped, but some with large medallion clamps, some clamps branched. Pileus trama of compact, subparallel to interwoven hyphae inflated up to 20 µm diam, hyaline, nongelatinous, unclamped. Hymenophoral trama subregular, with a distinct, relatively narrow mediostratum composed of subparallel, short-celled hyphae 16-80 X 3-12(-20) µm, often inflated with rounded ends, and a thick lateral strata (subhymenium) composed of loosely interwoven, gelatinous, cylindrical hyphae 1.2-3 µm diam. Stipe tissue monomitic; stipitipellis like the pileipellis, an ixotrichodermium to ixolattice, hyphae with scattered medallion clamps; medullary hyphae parallel, 4-16 µm diam, hyaline to pale yellow, inamyloid, thin-walled, nongelatinous.
Habit, habitat and distribution. Solitary to scattered on bare soil, on soil among mosses, or on moss covered stems of hapu`u (Cibotium spp.) in Montane Mesic Forest (Ohi`a Forest) or Montane Wet Forest (Ohi`a/Hapu`u Forest). Jan. to Oct. Hawai`i, Kaua`i.
Specimens Examined. U.S.A. HAWAII: Hawai`i, Saddle Rd. at 18.5 mi kipuka, N 19°40.691', W 155°19.425', 6 Jun. 1994, DEH 455 (Holotype); same location, 24 Sept. 1991, DEH 9.24.91.1; same location, 25 Jun. 1992, DEH 016-A; same location, 10 Sept. 1994, DEH 555-A; same location, 31 Oct. 1995, DEH 907; Hawai`i, Saddle Rd. at 19 mi kipuka, N 19°40.550', W 155°20.180', 20 Aug. 1996, DED 6533; Hawai`i, Saddle Rd. at 10.5 mi kipuka, N 19°41.675', W 155°13.115', 8 Oct. 1994, DEH 639. Kaua`i, Na Pali-Kona Forest Reserve, Alaka`i Swamp Trail, 6 Jan. 1994, DEH 357.
Etymology. "noelokelani": noe = mist or fog; lokelani = a small pink rose - Hawaiian for "pink rose in the mist".
Commentary. Hygrocybe noelokelani is characterized by forming basidiomata with entirely pink, glutinous pilei, pink, arcuate to subdecurrent lamellae, yellow glutinous stipe, filamentous cheilocystidia, and growth in montane native forests dominated by ohi`a (Metrosideros polymorpha) and hapu`u (Cibotium spp.). This beautiful species belongs in sect. Glutinosae Kühner (= Gliophorus Herink), subsect. Psittacinae (Bat.) Arnolds, where it is most closely allied with Hygrocybe laeta (Pers.: Fr.) P. Kumm., Gliophorus pallidus E. Horak, G. graminicolor E. Horak, and G. lilacipes E. Horak. All five species share the unusual combination of filamentous cheilocystidia with an ixotrichodermium on pileus and stipe surfaces. Hygrocybe noelokelani var. noelokelani differs from the four species cited above in lacking yellow, orange, green, grey or violet pigments in the pileus and lamellae, in lacking an odor, and in having relatively broader basidiospores (mean w = 4.9 µm). Hygrocybe laeta and G. graminicolor typically have an unpleasant odor, described as like burned rubber, burned hair, fish or animal cages (Hesler and Smith, 1963; Arnolds, 1990; Horak, 1990; Boertmann, 1995). Hygrocybe noelokelani has a similar overall coloration as that of H. calyptraeformis (Berk.) Fayod, but the latter species differs in many anatomical features, including a non-gelatinized stipitipellis, pileipellis an ixocutis, and prominent fusoid-ventricose pleurocystidia. Hygrocybe noelokelani has been collected only in montane native forests and is considered by us to represent a native Hawaiian species, possibly endemic. Ueki (1973, unpublished) reported H. noelokelani as H. laeta, a species not recognized from the Hawaiian Islands.
Hygrocybe noelokelani var. noelokelani is currently known from three sites, viz., two kipukas along Saddle Road between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawai`i, and the other in the Alaka`i Swamp area of Koke`e State Park on Kaua`i. In the same types of habitat, there occur macromorphologically indistinguishable populations of this new species that differ in lacking clamp connections throughout basidiomata, and in having longer cheilocystidia, shorter basidia and narrower basidiospores. These populations are described formally below as representing a distinct variety.

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