A re-evaluation of Penicillium section Canescentia, including the description of five new species

A survey of <i>Penicillium</i> in the fynbos biome from South Africa resulted in the isolation of 61 species of which 29 were found to be new. In this study we focus on <i>Penicillium</i> section <i>Canescentia</i>, providing a phylogenetic re-evaluation based on the analysis of partial beta-tubulin (<i>BenA</i>), calmodulin (<i>CaM</i>) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (<i>RPB2</i>) sequence data. Based on phylogenies we show that five fynbos species are new and several previously assigned synonyms of <i>P. canescens</i> and <i>P. janczewskii</i> should be considered as distinct species. As such, we provide descriptions for the five new species and introduce the new name <i>P. elizabethiae</i> for the illegitimate <i>P. echinatum</i>. We also update the accepted species list and synonymies of section <i>Canescentia</i> species and provide a review of extrolites produced by these species. <b>Citation</b>: Visagie CM, Frisvad JC, Houbraken J, et al. 2021. A re-evaluation of Penicillium section Canescentia, including the description of five new species. Persoonia 46: 163-187. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2021.46.06.