Ascovaginospora – Facesoffungi number: FoF 13481

Ascovaginospora Fallah, Shearer & W.D. Chen, Mycologia 89(5): 813 (1997)

Index Fungorum number: IF 27832; MycoBank number: MB 27832; Facesoffungi number: FoF 13481; 1 species with sequence data.

Type species – Ascovaginospora stellipala Fallah, Shearer & W.D. Chen

Notes – This monotypic genus was introduced by Fallah et al. (1997) to accommodate A. stellipala, which is characterized by 1-celled, hyaline, rhomboid ascospores, surrounded by a tetraradiate sheath, the arms of which elongate in water (Fallah et al. 1997). Ascovaginospora stellipala occurs on submerged dead stems and leaves of Carex limosa collected from two sphagnum bogs in northern Wisconsin (Fallah et al. 1997). Based on morphology and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence data, this species was first placed in Lasiosphaeriaceae, Sordariales by Fallah et al. (1997), in Phyllachorales by Maharachchikumbura et al. (2015, 2016b) and this is supported by Dayarathne et al. (2017). In our observation, tetraradiate sheaths of ascospores arms did not extend in the water as described by Fallah et al. (1997), perhaps due to age.

Figure 196 – Ascovaginospora stellipala (Material examined – USA. Wisconsin, on Carex limosa, 28 May 1996, Payam M. Fallah, ILLS 52319, holotype). a Herbarium material. b Ascomata on Carex limosa leaf. c, d Transverse section through ascoma. e Peridium. f-h Asci. i Paraphyses. j, k Ascospores with tetraradiate sheath. i Ascospores stained with Indian ink. Scale bars: b = 200 μm, c, d = 50, f-i = 20 μm, e, j-l = 5 μm.

Species