Abstract
Nine species of Xylaria were collected in Taiwan from nests of Odontotermes formosanus, the only known macrotermitine termite in Taiwan. These include six newly described species, X. acuminatilongissima, X. atrodivaricata, X. brunneovinosa, X. griseosepiacea, X. intraflava and X. ochraceostroma, and three previously known species, X. cirrata, X. escharoidea and X. nigripes. We obtained cultures and ITS sequences from the nine species found in Taiwan and describe anamorphs for eight of them. Before the current study teleomorphanamorph connections in the Xylaria species associated with termite nests have been established unequivocally in X. escharoidea only. Xylaria angulosa, X. fimbriata, X. kedahae, X. micrura, X. radicans, X. reinkingii and X. tolosa also are considered and annotated because they were reported to grow on ground and likely are associated with termite nests. Epitypifications are made for X. cirrata, X. escharoidea and X. nigripes. Xylaria sanchezii is considered a nomen dubium. Photographs are presented for most of the aforementioned species. A dichotomous key to 25 Xylaria species growing on termite nests or ground also is given.
This study was supported by Grant NSC 95-2311-B-001-048-MY3 to Y.-M.J. from National Science Council of Taiwan. We greatly appreciate K.-H. Chou for her indispensable assistance in specimen collecting. We thank Prof. Jack D. Rogers, Washington State University at Pullman, for critically reviewing the manuscript and making invaluable suggestions. Curators of BPI, HBG, HO, LPS, NY are thanked for locating and loaning specimens. We are indebted to Mei-Jane Fang, Mei-Chun Ho and Chun-Ru Lin for their technical assistances in obtaining DNA sequences.