Phylogeny and Morphology of Novel Species and New Collections Related to Sarcoscyphaceae (Pezizales, Ascomycota) from Southwestern China and Thailand

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Species of Sarcoscyphaceae are saprobic on branches, stumps, trunks, or twigs. The majority of members in this family are widespread in tropical areas, with only a fraction of the known species found in temperate areas. All species have typical disc- or cup-shaped fruiting bodies in a variety of colours ranging from white, grey, orange, red to brown. A high diversity of Sarcoscyphaceae has been reported in southwestern China and Thailand. In this study, we provide redescriptions of five known species and establish three new species in Sarcoscyphaceae from these regions based on morphology and phylogeny. We also propose an amendment for Phillipsia gelatinosa. Cookeina sinensis, a common species in China, is reported from Thailand for the first time. ABSTRACT: Sarcoscyphaceae (Pezizales) is distinguished by small to large, vividly-coloured sessile to stipitate apothecia, plurinucleate and pigmented paraphyses, operculate asci with thick walls, and plurinucleate, uniguttulate to multiguttulate ascospores with smooth walls or ornamentations. We collected more than 40 Sarcoscyphaceae specimens from dead twigs or wood. Based on morphology and phylogeny, these species belong to Cookeina, Nanoscypha, Phillipsia, Pithya, and Sarcoscypha. Among these, we introduce three new species–Nanoscypha aequispora, Pithya villosa, and Sarcoscypha longitudinalis. Phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, LSU, SSU, rpb2, and tef-1α gene regions indicate the relationships of these species within Sarcoscyphaceae. Meanwhile, we propose Ph. gelatinosa as a synonym of Ph. domingensis. One new record of C. sinensis is reported from Thailand.