Phyllachora Nitschke, Fungi rhenani exsic., suppl., fasc. 6(nos 2001-2100): no. 2056 (1867)

Index Fungorum number: IF 4049; MycoBank number: MB 4049; Facesoffungi number: FoF 02126; 866 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020), 23 species with sequence data.

Type species – Phyllachora graminis (Pers.) Fuckel

Notes – Phyllachora, which is typified by P. graminis and is the type genus of Phyllachoraceae with around 1513 species currently recognized (Maharachchikumbura et al. 2016b, Dayarathne et al. 2017, Species Fungorum 2020). Most species are named based on their host association, and this may not reflect the actual number of species (Cannon 1988). Phyllachora comprises species that grow immersed in a clypeate pseudostroma in leaf tissues, varying from a subcuticular or intra-epidermal to a generalized infection of the entire section of the mesophyll, inducing characteristic black shiny superficial symptoms, commonly known as tar spots (Santos et al. 2016). However, differences in the depth of ascomata can be influenced by the consistency of the host tissue (Cannon 1991), therefore, this is not a valid character to distinguish genera.

Species