Class Leotiomycetes O.E. Erikss. & Winka, Myconet 1(1), 7 (1997)
Index Fungorum number: IF 501487; Facesoffungi number: FoF 14248
Eriksson & Winka (1997) introduced the class Leotiomycetes to accommodate inoperculate discomycetes. The traditional concept of Leotiomycetes includes only apothecial ascomycetes with inoperculate, unitunicate asci that open by apical perforation or pore to release their ascospores (Dennis 1968, Korf 1973, Nannfeldt 1932, Pfister & Kimbrough 2001). Therefore, Leotiomycetes are often referred to as the “inoperculate discomycetes”. Previously this class included a wide range
of taxa (Korf 1973, Spooner 1987), but modern molecular-based studies have removed some groups to establish a more natural classification (Wang et al. 2006a, b, Baral et al. 2015, Pärtel 2016). The current classification of the class includes 11 orders, ca. 43 families, ca. 592 genera and ca. 4407 species, but these numbers vary depending on the taxonomic concepts applied by different authors, for example, Baral (2016) versus Wijayawardene et al. (2017, 2018).
Orders