Smardaea perezsilvae from Monte Tláloc

Smardaea perezsilvae was described from the Mexican Sierra Nevada within the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The holotype was collected on 18 September 2022 on Monte Tláloc, at an altitude of 3,106 metres. The fruiting bodies were five to eleven millimetres across, at first a deep cup and later more disc-shaped, and deep to dark violet in colour.

The species was recognised by more than its appearance in the field. The asci were eight-spored and inamyloid, and the ascospores measured about 20–26 by 10–12 micrometres. Their surface was formed of ridges and a few warts visible under the electron microscope. This combination distinguishes the species from Smardaea amethystina and other violet cup fungi. Analysis of the combined nLSU, mtSSU and tef1 regions supported its phylogenetic distinctness.

The authorship of the formal name reads Sánchez-Flores, J. García, Esqueda & Raymundo. The epithet perezsilvae, like the name of the second species in the same paper, honours Dr Evangelina Pérez-Silva. The name was registered in MycoBank under the number MB 859790. The full publication, photographs, micrographs, diagnosis and phylogenetic tree are available under DOI 10.3897/mycokeys.136.195741.

The material comes from mixed high-mountain forest and grew on soil. The known type locality does not define the whole range. Similar small fruiting bodies may be overlooked, and older collections without sequences may have been given the names of related species. Further sites, re-identification within collections and data on seasonality are needed.

There is no basis for assessing threat status or edibility. The aim of the paper was to resolve taxonomy. This entry shows why two violet cups from one country should not be combined on the basis of colour: details of spores, anatomy and DNA lead to different families and different evolutionary histories.

The record is also useful as an instruction for looking again. It gives the altitude, date, substrate, forest type and microscopic characters, so that the next team can compare material rather than rely on a photograph. An honest map should for now show the type locality, not colour in an entire range. Only a series of independent collections can be used to describe the season, habitat preference and possible conservation pressures. A negative result from a single visit does not prove a species has gone, because fruiting depends on the weather and may not occur every year.

What the paper establishes

The Smardaea perezsilvae holotype (ENCB) came from Monte Tláloc, Estado de México, collected on 18 September 2022 at 3,106 m on soil in mixed high-elevation forest. Violet apothecia measured 5–11 mm. Dimensions and ascospore sculpture separate it from S. amethystina: 20–26 × 10–12 µm spores bear ridges and sparse warts visible by SEM. nLSU, mtSSU and tef1 phylogeny supported its distinctness; MycoBank: MB 859790. Histochemical reactions suggest phenolic pigments, but the authors call for chemical identification; this was not a bioactivity trial. One type locality cannot yield a range, abundance or threat estimate. The defensible conservation label is “Not Evaluated,” not “rare,” even if only one published locality is known.