Clypeophysalosporaceae A. Giraldo & Crous, Mycol. Progr. 16(4): 340 (2017)
MycoBank number: MB 818514; Index Fungorum number: IF 818514; Facesoffungi number: FoF 06867; 33 species.
Endophytic, saprobic or pathogenic mostly on leaves of Eucalyptus spp. Sexual morph: Ascomata perithecial, brown or black, immersed, solitary, rarely in pairs, globose, sometimes with clypeus or pseudoclypeus. Peridium of several layers of brown and flattened cells. Paraphyses septate, numerous, hyaline, hypha-like, flexuose. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, cylindrical or obclavate, hyaline, with apical ring staining in Melzer’s reagent. Ascospores uniseriate or biseriate, hyaline, fusoid-ellipsoidal, unicellular, commonly surrounded by a mucilaginous sheath. Asexual morph: Coelomycetous or hyphomycetous. Conidiomata pycnidial, globose, solitary to aggregated, brown. Conidiophores differentiated or reduced to conidiogenous cells (pycnidial form), forming fascicules or rosettes on leaves, or solitary on the hyphae (hyphomycetous form), cylindrical to subcylindrical, brown to pale grey-brown. Conidiogenous cells phialidic, ampulliform, lageniform or subcylindrical, terminal and intercalary, pale to medium brown, apex with flared collarette. Conidia solitary or in slimy heads, subcylindrical, curved, hyaline, obtuse apex and truncate to subtruncate base (adapted from Giraldo & Crous 2017a).
Type genus – Clypeophysalospora H.J. Swart
Notes – Clypeophysalosporaceae was introduced by Giraldo & Crous (2017a) to accommodate Bagadiella, Clypeophysalospora, Neophysalospora and Plectosphaerella. These genera share characteristics in terms of both sexual and asexual morphs, host specificity (mainly Eucalyptus spp.) and distribution (Australia, South Africa, Giraldo & Crous 2017a). Neophysalospora eucalypti has also been isolated from Corymbia henryi (Myrtaceae) (Swart 1981, Cheewangkoon et al. 2009, Crous et al. 2011, 2014b).