Ternstroemiomyces zhaoqingensis Z. H. Guo & X. M. Tan 2026, sp. nov.

Ternstroemiomyces zhaoqingensis Z. H. Guo & X. M. Tan sp. nov. Fig. 7 Holotype. China • Guangdong Province, Zhaoqing City, on leaves of Cinnamomum cassia (Lauraceae), 23°13'97"N, 112°04'48"E, 57.3 m asl., October. 2022, X. M. Tan, holotype GXMG 20221025-2, ex-type living culture GXCM RG 79 = CGMCC 3.29460. Etymology. Named after the collection site of the type specimen, Zhaoqing City. Description. Endophytic in leaves of Cinnamomum cassia. Colonies on PDA at 25 ° C in darkness, attaining 61–64 mm diam. after seven days, colonies spreading out like petals, yellowish-white with dense mycelia, undulate margin and circular outward extension, reverse similar in color. Sexual morph: Ascomata 200–350 µm, buried or attached to the surface of mycelia, aggregative or solitary, globose to elliptical, brown, exuding hyaline asci. Asci 66.1–89.7 × 5.2–10.3 µm, unitunicate, 8 - spored, subcylindrical to long obovoid, wedge-shaped. Ascospores 11.5–18.1 × 4.8–6.8 µm, long-ellipsoidal to sub-lageniform, sharpening to apex, hyaline, median 1 - septate. Asexual morph not observed. Notes. Phylogenetic analysis based on the combined dataset showed that Ternstroemiomyces zhaoqingensis formed a distinct and fully supported lineage (BP / PP: 100 / 1). It appeared as the sister lineage to Te. machili and Te. ternstroemiae with high support (BP / PP: 99 / 1), and together they clustered with Te. cinnamomi in a well-supported clade (BP / PP: 98 / 1) (Fig. 2). Te. zhaoqingensis was distinguished from Te. ternstroemiae (CGMCC 3.28237) by 21 / 549, and 7 / 843 base pair, from Te. machili (CGMCC 3.28263) by 28 / 550, and 9 / 840 base pair differences in ITS and LSU, sequences, respectively. Morphologically, Te. zhaoqingensis did not produce asexual sporulation under the conditions examined, which precluded direct comparison of microscopic structures with Te. ternstroemiae and Te. machili. A synopsis of morphological and cultural characteristics is presented in Table 3. Nevertheless, the three species showed differences in their cultural characteristics on PDA. Although colony growth rate is generally regarded as a supplementary character, Te. zhaoqingensis (8.7–9.1 mm / d) exhibited a noticeably faster growth rate than Te. ternstroemiae (4.5–4.8 mm / d) and Te. machili (2.8–3.3 mm / d) when cultured under identical conditions. In addition, differences were observed in colony morphology: colonies of Te. zhaoqingensis were dense and cottony, white with a yellowish-white center. In contrast, colonies of Te. machili appeared gray-white with relatively sparse mycelia, while those of Te. ternstroemiae showed white to grayish aerial mycelium. Taken together, these macroscopic characteristics provide supportive, though not definitive, phenotypic evidence that is consistent with the phylogenetic separation of Te. zhaoqingensis. The new isolates are therefore described here as Ternstroemiomyces zhaoqingensis sp. nov., based on the combined evidence from cultural characteristics and phylogenetic analyses.