Sordariaceae G. Winter, Rabenh. Krypt.-Fl., Edn 2 (Leipzig) 1.2: 162 (1885)
MycoBank number: MB 81384; Index Fungorum number: IF 81384; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01408; 113 species.
Saprobic on wood, rotting vegetation and dung in terrestrial habitats, also associated with food. Sexual morph: Ascomata perithecial or cleistothecial, brown to black, gregarious or scattered, solitary, superficial, erumpent or immersed, globose, subglobose to ovoid, carbonaceous, coriaceous or membranaceous, tuberculate or smooth, with setae or hairs, papillate or papilla indistinct or absent, ostiolate, with hyaline periphyses or periphyses absent. Peridium relatively thick, carbonaceous, coriaceous or membranaceous, comprising brown to hyaline cells of textura angularis or globulosa or prismatica. Paraphyses numerous, septate, un- or branched, filiform or cylindrical or absent. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, cylindrical to clavate, pedicellate, J-. Ascospores uniseriate or biseriate, hyaline, yellowish, brown or black, stellate, oval or ellipsoid, 0–1-septate, concolorous or versicolorous, with or without guttules, uneven in thickness with striate to reticulate patterns or with a sheath, with or without germ pores, appendages present or absent. Asexual morph: Undetermined (adapted from Maharachchikumbura et al. 2016b).
Type genus – Sordaria Ces. & De Not.
Notes – Sordariaceae was introduced by Winter (1885b) based on brown to black ascomata and cylindrical asci with brown to black ascospores, and is typified by Sordaria. Most species in this family are coprophilous and can be heterothallic, homothallic or pseudo-homothallic (Dutta et al. 1976, Cai et al. 2006c). Species of Sordariaceae have unique ascospores and Copromyces, Effetia, Guilliermondia and Stellatospora are coprophilous taxa but without sequence data. Ascospores with glutinous sheaths or/and special ornamentations on the wall were considered to be similar characters as found in Sordariaceae and Lasiosphaeriaceae (Lundqvist 1972, Huhndorf et al. 2004b, Cai et al. 2006c). Multi-gene analysis placed Neurospora, Pseudoneurospora and Sordaria in Sordariaceae and related to Lasiosphaeriaceae (Huhndorf et al. 2004b, Cai et al. 2006b, c, Maharachchikumbura et al. 2015b, 2016b, Hyde et al. 2017a). In this entry we illustrate Guilliermondia saccoboloides Boud.