Melanconidaceae G. Winter, Rabenh. Krypt.-Fl., Edn 2 (Leipzig) 1.2: 764 (1886)

MycoBank number: MB 80988; Index Fungorum number: IF 80988; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01395; 36 species.

Saprobic or pathogenic on plants and wood, in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Sexual morph: Pseudostromata well-developed, obvious, erumpent. Ectostromatic disc surrounded by bark or not, yellowish-white. Ostiolar canal opening around the disc. Ascomata arranged as circles around the ectostromatic disc, oblique or horizontal, globose to subglobose, coriaceous and black with long, periphysate and lateral ostiolar canals. Peridium with outer, thick-walled, brown cells of textura globosa to textura angularis and inner, thick-walled, flat, hyaline cells of textura angularis. Paraphyses wide, hypha-like, deliquescent at maturity. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, oblong to fusiform, short pedicellate, with distinct, J-, apical ring. Ascospores overlapping uniseriate to biseriate, hyaline, ellipsoid, 1-septate. Asexual morph: Coelomycetous. melanconium-like. Conidiomata acervular, scattered, solitary, superficial, black, coriaceous. Conidiophores branched at the base, septate, Conidiogenous cells annellidic, cylindrical. Conidia hyaline to brown, ellipsoid or subglobose, smooth-walled, thick-walled (adapted from Senanayake et al. 2017a).

Type genusMelanconis Tul. & C. Tul.

Notes – Melanconidaceae includes species with yellowish-white ectostromatic discs, surrounding the ascomata which are arranged in a circle. Most of the family are saprobes and pathogens which cause diseases on economically important trees. Maharachchikumbura et al. (2016b) included 24 genera in the family. Sequence data is available for Dicarpella, Melanconiella, Melanconis, Melanconium, and Prosthecium. Voglmayr & Jaklitsch (2014) synonymized Prosthecium under Stilbospora and included the genus in Stilbosporaceae. Crous et al. (2012d) included more than half of known wuestneia-like species in Harknessia in Harknessiaceae. Morphological and molecular evidence showed that the family was monogeneric represented by Melanconis and its asexual morph Melanconium (Castlebury et al. 2002; Rossman et al. 2007). Melanconium was synonymized under Melanconis by Rossman et al. (2015). Phylogenetic analysis of Senanayake et al. (2017a) showed that Dicarpella and Melanconiella clustered away from the family. As a result, Senanayake et al. (2017a) excluded all the genera listed in Maharachchikumbura et al. (2016b) from Melanconidaceae, except Melanconis.

Genera