Pestalotiopsis goeppertiae M. G. Liao & Jian Ma 2026, sp. nov.

Pestalotiopsis goeppertiae M. G. Liao & Jian Ma sp. nov. Fig. 5 Type. China • Fujian Province, Fuzhou City, Fuzhou Botanical Garden, on diseased leaves of Goeppertia makoyana, 24 October 2023, X. X. Luo (HJAUP M 1919, holotype), ex-type living culture HJAUP C 1919.1 = HJAUP C 1919.2 = HJAUP C 1919.3 = HJAUP C 1919.4. Etymology. Named after the genus, Goeppertia, from which the fungus was isolated. Description. Regular leaf spots, grey white in center with brown at margin. Asexual morph on PDA: Conidiomata acervular, globose to clavate, 550–1520 μm diam., superficial, solitary or aggregated in clusters, dark brown. Conidiophores indistinct and reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells hyaline, smooth, cylindrical to ampulliform. Conidia fusiform, straight or slightly curved, 17.0–23.6 × 5.0–5.9 μm (x ̄ = 19.5 × 5.5 μm, n = 50), 4 - septate, slightly constricted at the septa; basal cell conical, 2.8–4.5 μm (x ̄ = 3.5 μm), hyaline or sometimes pale brown, smooth, thin-walled, with a single filiform appendage, unbranched, 2.3–6.0 μm (x ̄ = 3.5 μm) long; three median cells doliiform to cylindrical, smooth, thick-walled, 11.0–14.5 μm (x ̄ = 12.4 μm), concolorous, pale brown to brown, somewhat constricted at the septa, second cell from the base 3.4–5.1 µm (x ̄ = 4.2 μm) long, third cell 3.7–4.6 µm (x ̄ = 4.2 μm) long, fourth cell 3.7–4.9 µm (x ̄ = 4.2 μm) long); apical cell conical to acute, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, 3.2–4.1 µm (x ̄ = 3.7 μm) long, with 2–3 filiform appendages, arising from the apex of the apical cell each at a different point, unbranched, 12.6–21.3 µm (x ̄ = 15.4 μm) long. Sexual morph: not observed. Culture characteristics. Colonies on PDA grow fast, filamentous, reaching 85–90 mm diam. after 5–7 days at 25 ° C in light and dark conditions (8 h / 16 h), white, with flocculent mycelium and entire edge, forming black, brown conidiomata, and reverse pale orange. Note. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the four strains (HJAUP C 1919.1 T, HJAUP C 1919.2, HJAUP C 1919.3, and HJAUP C 1919.4) of P. goeppertiae form a distinct clade sister to P. neolitseae (NTUCC 17–011 T and CFCC 54590) with 97 % ML / 0.96 BI bootstrap support (Fig. 1). Based on a BLASTn search of P. goeppertiae (HJAUP C 1919.1 T) and P. neolitseae (NTUCC 17–011 T) in GenBank, comparisons of nucleotides showed 9 bp (248 / 257, including four gaps) and 1 bp (399 / 400, no gaps) nucleotide differences in the tef 1-α and tub 2 regions, respectively. Moreover, P. goeppertiae differs from P. neolitseae H. A. Ariy. & K. D. Hyde (Ariyawansa and Hyde 2018) in its conidia with a shorter fourth cell (3.7–4.9 µm vs. 4–5 (– 6) µm) from the base and longer apical appendages (12.6–21.3 µm vs. (7 –) 10–15 (– 17) μm). Furthermore, P. goeppertiae can be distinguished from P. neolitseae by its different host (Goeppertia makoyana vs. Neolitsea villosa).