Preussia Fuckel, Hedwigia 6: 175 (1867).
MycoBank number: MB 4363; Index Fungorum number: IF 4363; Facesoffungi number: FoF 06568; 53 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020), 30 with molecular data.
Type species – Preussia funiculata (Preuss) Fuckel, Jb. nassau. Ver. Naturk. 23-24: 91 (1870)
≡ Perisporium funiculatum Preuss, Fung. Hoyersw.: no. 145 (1851).
Notes – Preussia was introduced by Fuckel (1866) for species that have cleistothecioid ascomata, bitunicate asci, multi-septate ascospores, separating into parts with a germ slit on the surface walls. Members of Preussia were found associated with various habitats such as endophytic in the leaves of terrestrial plants, saprobic or coprophilous on dung, decaying wood and submerged plant debris (Guarro et al. 1997, Kruys & Wedin 2009, Kruys 2015). Preussia, Sporormiella and Spororminula have been demonstrated to have similar morphological characters, the only distinction being the papillate ostiole is absent in Preussia species. Recent molecular data analysis showed that there are non-polyphyletic results within Preussia, Sporormiella and Spororminula (von Arx 1973, Kruys & Wedin 2009, Zhang et al. 2012b, Hyde et al. 2013). Several Preussia specimens were also found mixed with taxa reported from soil samples (Li et al. 2016a).
Species
Preussia funiculata