Chaetothiersia vernalis, a new genus and species of Pyronemataceae (Ascomycota, Pezizales) from California

Chaetothiersia vernalis, collected from the northern High Sierra Nevada of California, is described as a new genus and species. This fungus is characterized by stiff, superficial, brown excipular hairs, smooth, eguttulate ascospores, and a thin ectal excipulum composed of globose to angular-globose cells. Phylogenetic analyses of nLSU rDNA sequence data support the recognition of Chaetothiersia as a distinct genus, and suggest a close relationship to the genus Paratrichophaea.