CREPIS ACUMINATA NUTT. (ASTERACEAE), AN ADDITION TO THE CANADIAN FLORA

Crepis acuminata is among the most morphologically distinct species in the North American Crepis agamic complex; however, morphological confusion arises in parts of British Columbia, Washington State, Idaho, Oregon and California because Crepis acuminata and C. atribarba morphologically intergrade with each other. Allopolyploidy is the likely cause of this morphological disarray (Babcock & Stebbins 1938; Sears 2011). The types of C. intermedia (Bolander 4930) and C. angustata (Carl F. Baker 92) occupy this morphological spectrum between C. acuminata and C. atribraba, which is why I have placed them in synonymy with C. acuminata below. Part of this morphological continuum extends into the Flathead Basin in southeastern British Columbia. Some individuals collected in this area (e.g. Lomer 94-113) lean towards the C. acuminata end of the morphologically spectrum, while others (e.g. Polster 125) are well within it. Indeed, if Polster 125 is considered in isolation it is easily assigned to C. acuminata based on morphology alone. I propose that Crepis acuminata be added to the Canadian flora. A key to the native Crepis known to Canada and adjacent regions of the United States can be found below. Maximum and minimum character values are indicated in the key as well as means and ± one standard deviations.

Crepis acuminata Nutt. subsp. acuminata = Crepis acuminata subsp. typica Babc. and Stebbins, Carn. Inst. Washing. Publs. 504:170. 1938. TYPE U.S.A. Plains of the Upper Platte, Nuttall s.n. (SYNTYPES: BM-1010043!, HUH-6258!, HUH-6257!, PH-1025896!)

= Crepis angustata Rydb., Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 32:135. 1905. TYPE: U.S.A. Colorado: North Park, 8000 ft., July 28, 1896, Carl F. Baker 92 (HOLOTYPE: NY-167780!; ISOTYPE: NY-167781!, NDG- 48956!)

= Crepis acuminata subsp. pluriflora Babc. & Stebbins, Carn. Inst. Wash. Publ. 504:178-179. 1938. = Psilochenia acuminata subsp. pluriflora (Babc. and Stebbins) W. A. Weber, Phytologica 53(3):188. 1983. TYPE: U.S.A. Colorado: Delta Co., Cedar Edge, alt. 7000 ft., June 24, 1901, Baker 243 (HOLOTYPE: UC-91870; ISOTYPE: RM-33306! and 160594!)

= Crepis intermedia A. Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(2):432. 1884, Hieraciodes intermedium (A. Gray) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1:346. 1891, C. acuminata var. intermedia (A. Gray) Jepson Man. Fl. Pl. Calif. 1011. 1925, Psilochenia intermedia (A. Gray) W. A. Weber, Phytologica 53(3):189. 1983. TYPE: U.S.A. California: Yosemite Valley, sandy soil, 1866, Bolander 4930 (EPITYPE: GH-!)

Etymology. From the Latin word "acuminatus", meaning "narrowing gradually to a point". This is likely in reference to the terminal midlobe of the basal leaves, which are acuminate.

Specimens mentioned in the text

Canada. BRITISH COLUMBIA: Lomer 94-113, 7-Jul-1994, Open mountainside, Kishinena Creek, Flathead Basin, UBC (49.0621 -114.281, 4400 ft.); Polster 125, 12-Aug-1976, South facing ridge, Festubert Mountain, V (49.071861 -114.153, 5780 ft.); USA. Nuttall s.n., Plains of the Upper Platte [River], BM, HUH, PH; CALIFORNIA: Bolander 4930, 1866, Sandy soil, Yosemite Valley GH; COLORADO, Jackson County: Baker 92, 28 July 1896, North Park (SE), NDH (40.853 -106.299, 7916 ft.); Delta County: Baker 243 (in part), Cedar Edge (Cedaredge), UC, RM (38.9016, -107.926, 6225 ft.)

Literature Cited

Babcock, E.B., & G.L. Stebbins. 1938.

The American Species of Crepis their interrelationships and distribution as affected by polyploidy and apomixes. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No. 504.

Sears, C.J. 2011.

Systematic investigations into the North American Crepis agamic complex. PhD Dissertation. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/33916/ubc_2011_spring_sears_christopher.pdf?sequence=1

COMPUTER TOOLS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MACROFUNGI

1) New version 2.2 of MatchMaker - Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest

MatchMaker (http://www.matchmakermushrooms.com/) is the free Pacific Northwest Mushroom Identification application for the PC or MAC, developed by Ian Gibson, Danny Miller and a host of other contributing authors and photographers. Over 4,000 species are fully described, many of them with photos, including a synoptic key. This is not like reading a paper key that asks you questions you might not know the answer to, but it involves telling the computer what you do know about the mushroom. It includes dozens of other features and learning opportunities, as well as a quiz.

• over 4,000 species
• 15 categories of fungi by appearance, each with hundreds of characters arranged in a dozen or so groups that you can check off to describe the mushroom you are looking at - then you can work with a list of mushrooms that fit those characters to identify your mushroom.
• guides you towards which checkboxes you should use next to limit the choices of what your mushroom can be to the fewest possible.
• rankings of all the mushrooms in the PNW in decreasing order of similarity with any mushroom you choose
• comparison charts between any two mushrooms
• NEW - TABLES to help sort out difficult groups of species
• easily customized to add, delete or change the species and their characters
• works with any subset of PNW mushrooms that you are focused on learning at the time
• a quiz to test your knowledge, by showing photos of any set of mushrooms you might be studying - then you have to guess the ID by multiple choice or by typing the Latin or English name.

2) Pictorial Key and Tables MatchMaker now includes a Pictorial Key to 1,500 of the most common PNW Mushrooms. This Pictorial Key is also available as a self-standing application outside of MatchMaker (http://www.alpental.com/psms/) for use on a smart phone, where no internet or cell reception is necessary. Pictures of similar mushrooms are shown side by side (not in alphabetical order) where you will see a concise summary of their differences, with the most important points highlighted in bold, so that you can quickly see the features that make a species unique.

TWO MYCOLOGICAL NOVELTIES: AMANITA PRUITTII N.SP. AND AMANITACEAE JOURNAL

Amanitaceae journal (ISSN [online] 2331-7612, R. E. Tulloss, publisher) is an open access e-journal with the sole purpose of formally publishing results of research of those actively working in Herbarium Rooseveltensis Amanitarum. This journal is a means of meeting part of the requirement for on-line treatments in the continuously updated monograph of the Amanitaceae family. This was discussed informally during the initial meeting concerning a proposed North American Mycoflora project (New Haven, Connecticut, June 2012). At that meeting, several speakers recognized the need for periodic publication as a stable state version of a continuously updated on-line monograph.

Amanitaceae journal will satisfy that proposal through the creation of (1) the e-journal that will meet the requirements of valid and effective Publication of the ICN and (2) a mechanism for creating snapshots of the site on a regular basis and storing those snapshots for open access. Clearly, both approaches require archival storage. For the e-journal, ISO certified digital repositories (as described in the ICN) already exist.

Articles for this journal are peer reviewed. Authors of manuscripts will advise the publisher with regard to reviewers with suitable knowledge of the subject matter of a given manuscript.

The inaugural issue of Amanitaceae contains the description of a new species of Amanita from California and Oregon, i.e., Amanita pruittii A. H. Sm. ex Tulloss, J. Lindgr. & Arora:

Tulloss, R.E. et al. 2014.

Amanita pruittii— a new, apparently saprotrophic species from US Pacific coastal states. Amanitaceae Vol. 1 (No. 1): 1-9. http://www.amanitaceaethejournal.org/content/uploaded/journal/2014/Amanitaceae.2014.1.1.pdf

Amanita pruittii is a new Amanita species, recently known from sites in California and Oregon. Morphologically the species is a member of Amanita subsect. Vittadiniae and is assignable to stirpus Vittadinii of Bas. Amanita pruittii belongs to a small group of saprophytic members of otherwise mostly mycorrhizal genus Amanita and occurs commonly without an obvious, woody, ectomycorrhizal symbiont. It grows in grassland habitats with standing water part of the year, and is often found submerged or partially submerged in water: http://mushroomobserver.org/185950 or http://mushroomobserver.org/185959 available on Mushroom Observer web site: http://mushroomobserver.org/name/show_name/15254

Amanita pruittii is also included in the Trial key to the species of AMANITA in the Pacific Northwest prepared for the Pacific Northwest Key Council by J. Lindgren in 2014: http://www.svims.ca/council/Amanit.htm

The search is on to find additional locations for A. pruittii, previously also known as Arora's Anonymous Amanita. The known sites are separated by about 600 miles and we are interested in finding other locations between these sites and to extend the range along the Pacific Coast. In October/November, these amanitas are fruiting in good numbers at Fern Ridge Reservoir in Oregon and one should look for them in wet meadows and lowlands along rivers. Please sent your reports of new locations to Jan Lindgren (jlindg@centurylink.net), ideally supported by dried herbarium specimens and photographs.

[Editorial Comment: for R.E. Tulloss' profile see http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-mushroom-man/]

Subscriptions: http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/ben-l.
Send submissions to aceska@telus.net

BEN is archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/