First Polish records of Myxomycetes rare in Europe

Seven species of Myxomycetes are reported from Poland for the first time. These are Arcyria virescens, Cribraria costata, C. elegans, C. languescens, C. mirabilis, C. pertenuis and Trichia flavicoma. They have very few localities in Europe and Cribraria pertenuis is known only from two sites worldwide. The species are described and illustrated with microphotographs, including first published micrographs of C. pertenuis. Localities are given and the taxonomy and ecology of each species are discussed.


Introduction
Only approximately 250 species of Myxomycetes (Myxogastria) have been noted from Poland until the present moment [1].Investigations were conducted by the author in the Niepołomice Primeval Forest, a remaining part of an old-growth forest in southern Poland (Małopolska Province).The majority of the forest complex is commercially managed by the State Forests National Forest Holding.The average altitude is 210 meters above sea level.In total, the forest area covers 10 924 ha and is divided into 403 forest sections (Fig. 1).It comprises six forest reserves (Dębina, Długosz Królewski, Gibiel, Koło, Lipówka and Wiślisko Kobyle).Pinus sylvestris is the main stand-forming tree species dominating in more than 61% of the forest.Quercus robur, which predominates in 19.2% of the area, is the second most important tree species [2].

Material and methods
The material was collected by the author during the 2010-2012 spring-autumn seasons in the Niepołomice Primeval Forest.Specimens were collected both in commercially managed forest areas (below: NF-section number) and protected sites (below: R-section number and the name of the reserve).
All microscopic measurements were taken with 100× magnification using an immersion objective.Spore diameter was measured together with the spore wall ornamentation.Laboratory examinations were conducted using a ZEISS Axioskop 2 plus light microscope.Microphotographs were taken using a Nikon D7000 digital camera and a Nikon H600L microscope.
Specimens and microscope slides are deposited in the Herbarium Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis (KRA) in the MYXO division.

DISTRIBUTION IN EUROPE. It has been recorded only in a few
NOTES.The species may resemble Cribraria macrostipitata and C. stellifera, which are also small-sized; however, they differ by thickened net nodes with more numerous free ends.The former has longer stalks, 3-5 mm in length, while the latter has densely packed and larger calcic granules, 3-4 μm in size [5,14].
NOTES.In taxonomic studies, Trichia flavicoma is reported as a species occurring only on dead leaves and litter.This is one of the features that distinguish it from T. subfusca, which is associated with dead wood and should have short, often bent elater ends (12-20 μm) [4,5,12,13].However, T. flavicoma has recently been reported to occur also on dead wood [16][17][18] as recorded at the Polish locality.As the specimens are morphologically strictly consistent with the description of T. flavicoma, the species may have a broader microhabitat range than reported previously.

Fig. 1
Fig.1Situation of the study area with forest section numbers and the names of the nature reserves.