Calosphaeriaceae Munk, Dansk bot. Ark. 17(no. 1): 278 (1957)
MycoBank number: MB 80548; Index Fungorum number: IF 80548; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01133; 67 species.
Saprobic on wood or decorticated wood in terrestrial habitats, sometimes hypersaprobic on old stromata or ascomata of other fungi, and several species have been isolated from wood of fruit trees showing canker symptoms. Sexual morph: Stroma absent. Ascomata perithecial, solitary to gregarious, dark brown to black, superficial or typically erumpent or immersed, globose to subglobose, coriaceous or membranous, tuberculate or smooth or with brown, septate, hyphal coating, papillate or with a cylindrical neck. Ostioles periphysate. Peridium two-layered, outer layer coriaceous or membranous, composed of dark brown, reddish-brown to brown cells of textura angularis or prismatica or porrecta; inner layer membranous, composed of hyaline cells of textura prismatica. Paraphyses numerous, broad, septate, unbranched, tapering. Ascogenous hyphae discrete, hyaline, smooth, branched, producing a sympodial sequence of hyaline, ovoid to ellipsoidal cells, often with mucronate apex, in dense clusters, each giving rise to an ascus. Asci 8- spored, unitunicate, clavate, long or short pedicellate, mostly in fascicles, with a conspicuously thickened apex lacking a visible discharge mechanism. Ascospores 2-seriate or in a fascicle, hyaline to light brown, allantoid, suballantoid, oblong to subcylindrical, aseptate or transversely septate, smooth-walled. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous, Acremonium- and phialophora-like. Conidiophores micronematous or semi-macronematous, brown or hyaline, straight or flexuous, septate, branched or unbranched. Conidiogenous cells phialides or adelophialdes, terminal, intercalary or lateral, hyaline to subhyaline, ampulliform to subcylindrical. Conidia aseptate, allantoid, oblong or subcylindrical, hyaline, smooth (adapted from Réblová et al. 2015b).
Type genus – Calosphaeria Tul. & C. Tul.
Notes – Calosphaeriaceae was introduced by Munk (1957) for perithecial taxa with a unique ascoma centrum in Sordariomycetes. Lumbsch & Huhndorf (2010) included eight genera (Calosphaeria, Conidiotheca, Jattaea, Kacosphaeria, Phragmocalosphaeria, Sulcatistroma, Togniniella, Wegelina) in this family. Réblová (2011) proposed Phragmocalosphaeria and Wegelina as synonyms of Jattaea based on similar septate ascospores. Maharachchikumbura et al. (2016b) accepted Calosphaeria, Jattaea, Kacosphaeria, Sulcatistroma, Togniniella and Tulipispora. A survey of Calosphaeriaceae was undertaken by Réblová et al. (2015b) and the genera Calosphaeria, Flabellascus, Jattaea and Togniniella were accepted. Their asexual morphs are dematiaceous phialidic hyphomycetes and numerous sexual-asexual relationships have been experimentally proven (Damm et al. 2008, Réblová 2011, Réblová et al. 2004, 2015b). Calosphaeriophora and Phaeocrella were originally described as asexual morphs for Calosphaeria and Togniniella (Réblová et al. 2004), however, in accordance with the abolishment of dual nomenclature for pleomorphic fungi, the names of their sexual morphs were selected following the principle of priority (Réblová et al. 2015b). In the same publication, three other genera listed in the Outline of Ascomycota (Lumbsch & Huhndorf 2010), i.e. Conidiotheca, Sulcatistroma and Kacosphaeria, were excluded from the broadly perceived Calosphaeriaceae, however, without DNA sequence data they could not be reassigned to other families. In addition, the asexual genus Tulipispora was considered a member of Calosphaeriaceae (Maharachchikumbura et al. 2016b, Wijayawardene et al. 2018a). Unfortunately, sequence data for Tulipispora is not available. We therefore exclude it from Calosphaeriaceae.