New species of Hypoxylon from western Europe and Ethiopia

Three new species of Hypoxylon are described from France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom based on new combinations of teleomorphic morphology. Hypoxylon fuscoides is related to H. fuscum but differs in having purple pigments. Hypoxylon lusitanicum is similar to H. perforatum but differs in having orange stromatal pigments. Hypoxylon gibriacense features glomerulate stromata and resembles the American H. shearii but has discoid ostiolar areas and different ascospores. In this context, H. addis, collected from Ethiopia, is also newly described because it appears morphologically similar to H. gibriacense. Their secondary metabolite profiles, as inferred from high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and mass spectrometric detection (HPLC-DAD/MS), confirm their uniqueness as compared to related species. Lecanoric acid (widely distributed in lichenized ascomycetes) is revealed to as the major stromatal metabolite of H. addis and is for the first time reported as present in a xylariaceous species. A new key to European Hypoxylon species is provided.