Material examined. - NEW ZEALAND: North Island, Auckland, Waitakere Range, Kauri Park, 6 V 1981, Horak 522 (SFSU, ZT); Auckland, Waitakere Range, Swanson University Reserve, Farley Trail, 22 V 1990, R. H. Petersen 2687 (Paratype; TENN).

Pi1eus 5-25 mm, polymorphic, orbicular, fan-shaped, ear-shaped or conchiform; margin incurved; surface covered with conspicuous, concentric, tesselate ridges, dull, moist to dry, glabrous; texture strongly gelatinous-cartilaginous, tough; at first whitish to pale-ochre, slowly changing to deep reddish brown or copper brown in age. Context pale beige to pale ochre, strongly gelatinous, car-tilaginous.- Lamellae narrowly adnate, distant (3-8) with 2-4 series of lamellulae, strongly anastomosing or interconnected, transverse lamellulae often at a lower level, sometimes merulioid; white to off-white, becoming pinkish buff to pinkish cinnamon, eventually becoming concolorous with pileus surface; edges even, darker red or brown.- Stipe 1-3 x 1 mm, lateral or eccentric, rarely absent, cylindrical, equal, solid, conspicuously pruinose, insititious; concolorous with pileus.- Odor and taste not distinctive.
Basidiospores 10.0-14.5 x 6.5-8.0(-9.0) µm, elliptical to ovoid, with broad lateral apiculus, smooth, hyaline, often with strongly refractive red-brown globules, inamyloid, thin-walled.- Basidia 45-50 x 7-8 µm, elongate clavate to subcylindrical, 4-spored, clamped.- Basidio1es fusoid.- Chei1og1oeocystidia abundant (lamellar edge sterile), 40-60 x 4-6 µm, tibiiform to slender fusoid with capitate apex, capitulum 8-10 µm diam., or, slender clavate and non-capitate, hyaline, thin-walled, often with reddish brown plasmatic or coagulated pigment, upper portion often covered with reddish brown resinous exudate.-Pleurogloeocystidia absent.- Hymenial metuloids absent.- Pileipellis hymeniform, composed of Globulares-type cells plus pileogloeocystidia; Globulares-type cells 18-40 x 8-18 µm, clavate to broadly clavate, thin-walled, hyaline with reddish brown globular contents; pilogloeocystidia scattered, 35-52 x 3.5-5.0 µm, tibiiform, capitulum 6-8 µm diam., hyaline with reddish brown globular contents; reddish brown exudates adhering to surface of pileipellis; metuloids absent; diverticulate cells absent.- Pileal and lamellar tissue inamyloid, gelatinous.- Caulogloeocystidia like cheilogloeocystidia, but smaller.- Clamp connections present.

Habit, habitat and distribution.-Solitary, in groups on rotting leaves of Rhopalostylis sapida (Palmae). New Zealand, Sri Lanka.

Gloiocephala rubescens was described initially as a species of Campanella (Segedin, 1993) based on the observation of diverticulate pileipellis elements, gelatinous tissues and Campanella-like macromorphology. Examination of a paratype specimen collected by R. H. Petersen from which some of the protologue data were obtained, indicated that the pileipellis is not composed of a cutis of diverticulate hyphae (i.e., a Rameales-structure typical for Campanella), but rather is a hymeniform layer of clavate cells plus pileogloeocystidia (the pileipellis is often obscured by the adherent resinous reddish brown exudates from pilogloeocystidia and is therefore difficult to analyze). This pileipellis anatomy, in conjunction with tibiiform hymenial gloeocystidia with pigmented contents is diagnostic for the genus Gloiocephala and the species is formally transferred accordingly. The strongly anastomosing to nearly poroid hymenophore, small lateral stipe, color changes from white to reddish with age, and growth on palm fronds is diagnostic.
Gloiocephala rubescens belongs in sect. Gloiocephala, subsect. Macrosporae where it is most closely allied with G. palmarum Singer described from Bolivia. Gloiocephala palmarum differs in forming pilei with orange rather than red pigmentation, lamellae that are less intervenose and not at all poroid, narrower basidiospores (4.5-6.5 µm broad), and metuloid cystidia 55-135 µm long in the pileipellis and stipitipellis (fide Singer, 1960).

Sri Lanka: Central Prov., Kandy District, Peradeniya, Thwaites 396, Aug. 1868 (holotype C. pustulata, K); New Zealand: North I.: Auckland: Waitakere Ra.: Swanson University Reserve, P. Warren, 12 VI 1978, PDD 60261 (holotype C. rubescens), Ibid., Parley Tr., R. H. Petersen, 22 V 1990, Petersen 2687.

Basidiome 12 x 9 mm diam., orbicular to reniform, fleshy, fragile, easily detached from substratum, stipitate. Pileus pinkish cream, "chamois to cinnamon buff", becoming red with age, gelatinous, surface viscid, tessellate corresponding with lamellae. Hymenophore white to pinkish buff at first but becoming crimson to rusty red, "orange cinnamon to mikado brown, deep corinthian red to acajou red" (colours in quotation marks from Ridgway (1912), fide R. H, Petersen pers. comm.), staining appearing first at the margins of the long lamellae, strongly intervenose, with a small number (3-5) of long lamellae reaching the stipe, and between them secondary lamellae anastomosing at a lower level. During drying, the margins of lamellae exude a sticky-looking red substance. Stipe 2 x 1 mm, excentric to mainly lateral, cylindric, solid, pink, pubescent. Smell and taste unknown. Spore print white, copious.
Spores 10.5-14.5 x 6.5-9.0 (13.0 x 7.5) µm, Q = 1.73, elliptical in face view, flattened on adaxial side and often conspicuously humped on abaxial side in lateral view, hyaline, inamyloid, not dextrinoid, acyanophilic, thin-walled, some with refractive globules; contents of spores discolour ferruginous red with age. Basidia 35-45 x 5-12 µm, elongate-clavate, with 4 sterigmata, up to 6 µm long, contents yellow granular when young. Cheilocystidia 70-100 x 3-9  µm, cylindrical to narrowly clavate, thin-walled, contents becoming reddish with age, or sometimes with red material forming a cap, crowded, forming a wide, sterile, lamellar margin. Pleurocystidia none but some fusoid basidioles present. Trama irregular, gelatinised, some narrow, oleiferous hyphae present. Context subgelatinous, of narrow (3-5 µm) hyphae, loosely woven with very distinct clamp connections; some narrow, oleiferous hyphae ending in the pileipellis as clavate cells with pink contents. Pileipellis of repent hyphae giving rise to narrow diverticulate hyphae in a loose Rameales structure. Caulocystidia 40-50 x 6-8 µm, cylindrical to slightly clavate, frequent, very similar to cheilocystidia.

On decaying nikau palm fronds (Rhopalostylis sapida Wendi. & Drude, an indigenous palm), in mixed podocarp dicotyledonous forest.

Basidioma 12 x 9 mm diam., orbiculare vel reniforme, carnosum, fragile, substrate facile separatum, stipitatum. Pileus subroseo-cremeus, rubescens in aetate, gelatinosus, superficie viscida et tessellata secundum imaginem lamellarum. Hymenophorum prime album vel subroseo-bubalinum, deinde coccineum vel ferrugineum, inquinatum primo ad margines lamellarum longarum, valde intervenosum, paucis (3-5) lamellis longis ad stipitem pervenientibus, inter quas lamellae secundariae inferius anastomosantes. Lamellarum margines exsiccatantes exsudant substantiam rubram et gelatinosam. Stipes 2 x 1 mm, excentricus vel praecipue lateralis, cylindricus, solidus, roseus, pubescens. Odor et sapor incogniti. Imago sporarum alba, copiosa. Sporae 10.5-14.5 x 6.5-9.0 (13 x 7.5) µm, Q = 1.73, ellipticae aspectu frontali, aspectu laterali complanatae in latere adaxiali, saepe conspicue gibbosae in abaxiali latere, hyalinae, inamyloideae nec dextrinoideae, parietibus tenuibus, nonnumquam globulis refractivis intemis; succus atro-rubescens in aetate. Basidia 35-45 x 5-12 µm, anguste clavata, tetraspora, sterigmatibus -6 µm. succo flavo, granuloso in juventute. Cheilocystidia 70-100 x 3-9 µm, cylindrica vel anguste clavata, conferta, marginem latam sterilem lamellarum facientia, tenuibus parietibus, succo rubescenti in aetate. Pleurocystidia nulla, sed adsunt nonnulla basidiola fusiformia. Trama irregularis, gelatinosa, nonnullis angustis hyphis oleiferis. Contextus subgelatinosus, ex angustis (3-5 µm) hyphis laxe intertextis et conspicue fibulatis; nonnullae angustae oleiferae hyphae terminant in pileipelle cellulis clavatis roseam substantiam continentibus. Pileipellis ex hyphis repentibus hyphis diverticulatas angustas laxe Rameales producentibus. Caulocystidia 40-50 x 6-8 µm, cylindrica vel subclavata, frequentia, cheilocystidiis simillima. In frondibus mortuis palmae (Rhopalostylis sapida). Nova-zelandia

This species bears a striking resemblance to C. pustulata (Berk.& Br.) Pegler, another red-staining species, first recorded by Berkeley & Broome (1873) growing on decaying palm fronds in Sri Lanka, and described again by Petch (1910) and Pegler (1986), also from Sri Lanka. Cooke (1892) recorded it for Australia but Petch (1910) stated that "Cooke's figure in the Handbook of Australian fungi" (which shows a very small Campanella-like fungus entirely ochraceous in colour) "has no relation to this plant at all", a view subscribed to by Lloyd (1919). The New Zealand species is like the Sri Lankan in certain respects such as the substratum, the colour changes of the basidiomes, the similar appearance of the extruded, glutinous substance from the lamellar margin in dried material, and the ferruginous staining character of the spores and cheilocystidia, but it differs in that the basidiomes are considerably larger than those in the Sri Lankan type material examined and are laterally stipitate instead of being attached by a pseudostipe (Pegler 1986), and the cheilocystidia are longer and narrower than those figured by Pegler. Pegler did not report caulocystidia or oleiferous hyphae in C. pustulata. It was difficult to identify the tissues of the type with any precision because of the small amount and size of the material available, but the spores of C. pustulata appear to be similar in size but slightly more spherical (Q = 1.3 instead of 1.7) than those of C. rubescens. On the basis of the large spore size, both these species would fit in Singer's (1975) subsection Gigantosporae, type species C. gigantospora Singer from Australia, but neither species has the diverticulate to somewhat thick-walled cystidia that were confirmed from an examination of the type of C. gigantospora.
C. rubescens appears to be fairly common in New Zealand, on decaying fronds of the indigenous nikau palm (R. H. Petersen pers. comm.). The red staining of the basidiome is a very distinctive character, making it easy to recognise.

HOLOTYPUS: PDD 60261.