A new ectomycorrhizal Leotia species from neotropical montane forest

The genus Leotia (Leotiaceae) is globally distributed with approximately 45 named species and several subspecies, varieties and forms. Persoon first proposed Leotia in 1794. Most of the taxonomic work has been done in the last 100 years with the most recent species added in 1982 by Otani. Here we describe L. chiricana, a new species associated with tropical monodominant forests of Oreomunnea mexicana (Fagales, Juglandaceae) in Panama and Trigonobalanus excelsa (Fagales, Fagaceae) in Colombia. This new species is easily recognized by its distinctive vivid dark greenish blue color as compared to other species in the genus. The structure of the apothecia also differs in having only one gelatinous layer instead of two in the stipe. Phylogenetic analyses using ITS ribosomal DNA and a variable region of the RNA polymerase II (RPB2) gene strongly support a monophyletic L. chiricana clade that is sister to L. lubrica group I sensu Zhong and Pfister. Our field data showed that L. chiricana was more abundant in habitats with soils of high nitrogen availability. Illumina sequence data (ITS2) and stable isotope analysis suggest that this species forms mycorrhizal associations with O. mexicana. The discovery of this Leotia species from Panama and Colombia contributes to the knowledge of the understudied and diverse communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi within the Neotropics.