Chlorencoelia (Leotiomycetes, Helotiales, Cenangiaceae) in New Zealand

Chlorencoelia, a genus of saprotrophic, wood-inhabiting fungi, has long been considered to include only a few species with wide geographic distributions. Recent DNA sequencing and morphological analyses of specimens from New Zealand, deposited in the New Zealand Fungarium (PDD), have revealed that all local collections previously identified as C. torta or C. versiformis represent three distinct species, two of them previously unnamed.

These species include C. olivacea, originally described from Tasmania, together with the newly named C. australis and C. northlandica. Chlorencoelia australis has been found in both Australia and New Zealand. These species exhibit subtle yet unique morphological characteristics, including differences in ascospore size and shape, lipid body arrangements, the shape of tomentum hyphae, and the colour of refractive vacuolar bodies in the paraphyses and tomentum hyphae.

Phylogenetic analyses confirm the divergence of these New Zealand and Australian species from previously described taxa. This study underscores the hidden diversity within Chlorencoelia and highlights the importance of integrating genetic and morphological data to refine fungal taxonomy.