Selenophoma Maire, Bull. Soc. bot. Fr. 53: clxxxvii (1907).
MycoBank number: MB 9869; Index Fungorum number: IF 9869; Facesoffungi number: FoF 00109; 83 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020), 6 species with molecular data.
Mycelium immersed, branched, septate, pale brown. Sexual state: Unknown. Asexual state: Conidiomata pycnidial or avervular, separate or aggregated, scattered, immersed or superficial, globose, dark brown, uniloculate, thin-walled; walls 2 to 3 layers thick, composed of brown, thick-walled, large celled, textura angularis, lacking ostioles, dehiscence by circular or irregular rupture of the upper wall. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells or hyaline, irregularly branched at the base and above, 1 to 3-septate, smooth. Conidiogenous cells enteroblastic, phialidic, discrete, determinate, hyaline to pale brown, smooth, subglobose, obpyriform or obovoid, collarette and channel minute, with apical periclinal thickening, guttulate, formed from the inner cell of the pycnidial wall, slightly tapered toward the apex. Conidia holoblastic, aseptate, falcate, fusiform, ellipsoidal to obovoid, eguttulate or irregularly guttulate, smooth-walled, at first thin-walled, hyaline or pale brown, later pale brown with thicker walls and verruculose.
Type species – Selenophoma catananches Maire [as ‘catanaches’], Bull. Soc. bot. Fr. 53: clxxxvii (1906).
Notes – The genus is characterized by immersed, branched, septate, pale brown mycelium, with immersed or superficial, separate or aggregated, scattered pycnidial or avervular, lacking ostioles, conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells or hyaline, 1–3-septate, irregularly branched at the base and above. Conidiogenous cells are enteroblastic, phialidic, discrete, determinate, subglobose, obpyriform or obovoid, formed from the inner cell of the pycnidial wall, and hyaline to pale brown. Conidia are holoblastic, fusiform, ellipsoidal to obovoid, aseptate, hyaline or pale brown, eguttulate or irregularly guttulate, smooth- to verruculose-walled (Cheewangkoon et al. 2009, facesoffungi.org 2020). Sutton (1980) accepted five species in Selenophoma and the graminicolous Selenophoma species have been accommodated in Pseudoseptoria which is the earliest available generic name. Sutton (1996) introduced S. anniae, while Cheewangkoon et al. (2009) introduced S. australiensis with Hormonema as a synasexual morph. In the present phylogenetic analysis, three Selenophoma species (S. australiensis, S. linicola and S. mahoniae) grouped in three different clades (Fig. 27) and this is similar to the results shown by Thambugala et al. (2014a). Therefore, more species including the type of this genus need to be re-collected and sequenced in order to confirm their taxonomic placement.
Species