Scutellospora persica (Glomales, Zygomycetes), an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus new to the mycota of Poland

Morphological properties of spores of Scutellospera persica are described and illustrated. This fungus was recovered from the root zone of Ammophila arenaria and Petasites spurius colonizing maritime sand dunes adjacent to Swinoujscie in northwestern Poland. Scutellospora persica produces spores singly in the soil. The greyish orange to tomato red spores are globose to subglobose, (270-)337(-435) mu m diam or occasionally ovoid, 320-390 x 365-450 mu m and have two walls: a spore wall and an inner wall, each consisting of two layers. The diagnostic feature of S. persica is its outer spore wall layer being ornamented with very small warts. This fungus produced spores and arbuscular mycorrhizae in single-species pot cultures with Plantago lanceolata and Sorghum vulgare. Scutellospera persica was for the first time found in Poland which is the second country in Europe where the occurrence of this fungus was so far recorded.