Plochmopeltis Theiss., Brotéria, sér. bot. 12: 87 (1914).
MycoBank number: MB 4257; Index Fungorum number: IF 4257; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01940; 5 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020), molecular data unavailable.
Type species – Plochmopeltis intricata (Ellis & G. Martin) Theiss., Brotéria, sér. bot. 12(1): 87 (1914).
≡ Asterina intricata Ellis & G. Martin, Am. Nat. 18: 69 (1884).
Notes – Plochmopeltis was introduced to accommodate an epiphytic fungus, forming hypophyllous ascomata on leaves of Quercus arenaria in Florida, the USA which was previously identified as Asterina intricata. Plochmopeltis is characterized by brown to dark brown, superficial, dimidiate to scutate, or crustaceous ascomata, without peridial walls, covering by reddish brown hyphae, septate, roughly coarse, with brown to reddish brown mycelium clumps at the top, 8- spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, globose to subglobose, or clavate asci, embedded in subhyaline to light brown, hamathecial networks and hyaline, ellipsoidal to oblong or clavate, septate ascospores (Phookamsak et al. 2016). Theissen (1914) and Petrak (1929) described Plochmopeltis as forming small plectenchymatous peridial cells. However, von Arx (1959) and Phookamsak et al. (2016) re- circumscribed the genus based on the type specimen of Asterina intricata and indicated that Plochmopeltis did not form a peridium, but had confluent mycelium with clumps at the apex, covering the asci. Plochmopeltis occurs on various hosts in tropical to subtropical regions, such as Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Florida (USA), and the West Indies (von Arx 1959, Müller & von Arx 1962, Farr & Rossman 2020). Plochmopeltis differs from other genera in Schizothyriaceae due to the lack of peridial structure and forming confluent mycelium with brown hyphae clumps at the apex covering the asci. Phookamsak et al. (2016) and Wijayawardene et al. (2018) tentatively placed the genus in Schizothyriaceae pending future studies.
Species
Plochmopeltis intricata