Cryphonectriaceae Gryzenh. & M.J. Wingf., Mycologia 98: 246 (2006)

MycoBank number: MB 510585; Index Fungorum number: IF 510585; Facesoffungi number: FoF 03455; 91 species.

Saprobic or pathogenic in forest trees and economic crops. Sexual morph: Ascostromata scattered, immersed or erumpent, aggregated, oval to circular from above, comprising two layers, with upper layer of yellowish orange to pale brown cells, purpling in KOH and inner layer of hyaline cells, mixed with plant cells. Ascomata immersed, aggregated, several in one stroma, globose to subglobose, fuscous black to umber, with long neck, sometimes ostiolar canal immersed in stromatic tissues or superficial, with necks covered in umber stromatic tissue of texturaporrecta, inner wall of the necks or ostiolar canal with hyaline, filamentous periphyses. Peridium comprising inner layer of small, hyaline cells of textura angularis and outer layer of small, brown cells of textura angularis. Paraphyses few, cellular, parenchymatous cells, attached at the base of asci and dissolving at maturity. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, cylindrical-fusoid to clavate, pedicellate, with distinct, J-, refractive apical ring. Ascospores overlapping uniseriate to biseriate, hyaline, sometimes brown,ellipsoid, fusoid to cylindrical, aseptate to multi-septate, not constricted at septa, smooth-walled. Asexual morph: Coelomycetous. Conidiomata occurring as part of ascostromata, as conidial locules or solitary structures, uni- to multi-loculate, pyriform, subglobose to pulvinate, ostiolar necks absent or present; if present, with one to several attenuated necks, superficial or semi-immersed, orange to fuscous-black. Conidiophores cylindrical, aseptate, hyaline, sometimes reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells lining the inner cavity of the conidiomata, phialidic, sometimes within flattened base, ampulliform,conspicuous, with attenuated or truncate apices, hyaline, smooth. Conidia minute, sometimes both micro- and macro-conidia present, sigmoid, broadly ellipsoid to fusoid, obovoid-cylindrical to allantoid, aseptate, hyaline.

Type genusCryphonectria (Sacc.) Sacc. & D. Sacc.

Notes – Cryphonectriaceae comprises mostly tree and plant pathogens (Vermeulen et al. 2011) and rarely saprobes and endophytes. They cause diseases in economically important plants and forest trees. Cryphonectriaceae was established by Gryzenhout et al. (2006b) to accommodate the Cryphonectria-Endothia complex based on nrLSU sequence data.