Morphological description and new records of Hygrocybe conica var. conica and H. nigrescens var. brevispora (Hygrophoraceae) in Brazil

- (Morphological description and new records of Hygrocybe conica var. conica and H. nigrescens var. brevispora (Hygrophoraceae) in Brazil). Hygrocybe conica var. conica and H. nigrescens var. brevispora were collected in the Atlantic Rain Forest of the States of Paraná and Rio Grande do Norte States, respectively. These two taxa were reported in mushroom checklists of Brazil; however, their morphological features and variations have been hitherto poorly documented. Thus, it is provided for the first time a complete description for these two Brazilian varieties. Hygrocybe conica var. conica was reported in the last century for the southeast region, more precisely from the mixed ombrophilous forests of São Paulo State. Presently, this variety is a new record for the seasonal semideciduous forests of Paraná State, southern Brazil. Hygrocybe nigrescens var. brevispora was known from coastal ecosystems of the south and southeast regions; it is also being indicated here as a new record for the northeast region.

Thus in this paper, we provide a detailed description of Hygrocybe conica var. conica and H. nigrescens var. brevispora that occur in Brazil, expanding the known distribution of H. conica var. conica from the south and of H. nigrescens var. brevispora from the northeast of Brazil.

Discussion
Hygrocybe conica differs of H. nigrescens by its more robust habit, pileus shape and color and broader basidiospores (Pegler 1977). These features were observed in our samples: H. conica var. conica from Paraná has conical pileus in young specimens becoming cuspidate, orange to reddish-orange tints, and subglobose to cylindrical basidiospores (Q = 1.14-2.12); H. nigrescens var. brevispora from Rio Grande do Norte has broadly parabolic, slightly umbonated, convex slightly umbonated to conical pileus, predominance of dark red tints and broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid basidiospores (Q = 1.29-1.61).
These mentioned features confirm the identification of these two entities, in which also agree with the descriptions of the literatures: Hygrocybe conica var. conica agrees with the brief morphological features indicated by Pegler (1997, from Brazil) and the description of Hesler & Smith (1963, as Hygrophorus conicus from USA) by the shape and color of pileus and basidiospore size 9-12 × 5.7-8.6 µm, and disagree only in smaller cap 15-29 mm; Hygrocybe nigrescens var. brevispora from Rio Grande do Norte State agrees with that described Pegler (1997Pegler ( , 1983 and Lodge & Pegler (1990), in its pileus shape and short broadly ellipsoid basidiospores 8.5-11 × 5.5-8 µm.
C a n t r e l l & L o d g e ( 2 0 0 0 ) c o n f r o n t e d morphological characters of H. conica var. conica from Central America, North America, and Europe and H. nigrescens var. brevispora, (as H. conica var. brevispora), from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Pseudocystidia were found more concentrated near to lamellar edge in H. nigrescens var. brevispora, feature observed in the holotype analyzed by Pegler (1983) and Lodge & Pegler (1990). On the other hand, H. conica var. conica lacks pseudocystidia, or they concentrated only on the lamellar edge (Cantrell & Lodge 2000). In both collections analyzed by us, pseudocystidia are scarce on lamellar sides and edge.
Hygrocybe conica var. conica is known on all continents, except in Antarctica (Boertman 2010); it is reported in Neotropical America only at high elevations, such as in Costa Rica (3000-3500 a.s.l. alt., Cantrell & Lodge 2000) and Bolivia (2202 a.s.l. alt. Franco-Molano et al. 2010). Hygrocybe nigrescens var. brevispora is known in the coastal areas of tropical and subtropical humid forests of Central America (Martinique, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic) and South America (Venezuela, Brazil). Hygrocybe conica var. conica was recorded to São Paulo State (1600-1700 a.s.l. alt.), which is the only Brazilian occurrence to date (Pegler 1997). Hygrocybe nigrescens var. brevispora has been collected from resting vegetation in São Paulo by Pegler (1997) and in a dense ombrophilous forest of Paraná by De Meijer (2006). With the new findings, the distribution of H. conica var. conica is now expanded to seasonal semideciduous forest (346 m alt.) in the south, while H. nigrescens var. brevispora has a new record in the northeast of Brazil. New reports are expected from other areas of Brazil and, together with its molecular data, this may help answer questions related to the distribution pattern and evolutionary processes this species complex.