Imaia

Imaia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Pezizomycetes
Order:	Pezizales
Family:	Morchellaceae
Genus:	Imaia; Trappe & Kovács (2008)
Type species
	Imaia gigantea; (S.Imai) Trappe & Kovács (2008)
Synonyms
	Terfezia gigantea S.Imai (1933); Picoa pachyascus M.Lange (1956);

Short description: Genus of fungi

Imaia is a fungal genus in the family Morchellaceae found in Japan and in the Appalachian Mountains of the US.

Taxonomy

A monotypic genus, Imaia was circumscribed in 2008 by James Martin Trappe and Gábor M. Kovácsto to contain the truffle-like species formerly known as Terfezia gigantea when molecular analysis demonstrated that its DNA sequences were markedly different from those of Terfezia.

The generic name Imaia honors Japanese mycologist Sanshi Imai (1900–1976), who collected the type specimen,^[1] while the specific epithet gigantea alludes to the large size of the specimens in the type collection, one of which measured 10 by 15 centimetres (4 by 6 inches).^[2]

Description

The fruit bodies of Imaia gigantea are spherical to roughly elliptical to irregular in shape, brown, and usually develop cracks in age. The interior gleba comprises brown pockets of asci separated by white veins. The spores are spherical or nearly so, up to 70 µm long, and enclosed by a thick epispore.^[2]

References

↑ Burkhardt, Lotte (2022) (in German) (pdf). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen. Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. https://doi.org/10.3372/epolist2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 "Imaia, a new truffle genus to accommodate Terfezia gigantea". Mycologia 100 (6): 930–9. 2008. doi:10.3852/08-023. PMID 19202847.