Vialaeaceae P.F. Cannon, Mycol. Res. 99(3): 368 (1995)
Index Fungorum number:IF 81967; MycoBank number: MB 81967; Facesoffungi number: FoF 00686; 4 species.
Parasitic or saprobic on dead plant matter. Sexual morph: Pseudostroma appears as ellipsoidal, black dots slightly raised from the substrate, thick around the upper part of the ascomata. Ascomata perithecial, solitary or aggregates, immersed, globose, subglobose to ellipsoidal, coriaceous, black to brown, papillate, ostiolate with periphyses. Papilla long, sometimes distal end curving towards the substrate, periphysate. Peridium thick, composed of outer, dark-brown, thick-walled cells of textura angularis and inner, hyaline, thick-walled cells of textura angularis. Paraphyses filiform, rarely branched, septate, hyaline, sometimes apex slightly swollen. Asci 8- spored, unitunicate, cylindrical, sometimes tapering towards the apex or base, short-stalked or sessile, thin-walled except apex, apex obtuse or truncate, apical ring subconical or subapical, J+. Ascospores biseriate, triseriate to fasciculate, sometimes weakly helically coiled, hyaline, strongly isthmoid, ends fusiform to rhombic, apical portion sometimes slightly larger than the basal part, 1– 3-septate, smooth-walled. Asexual morph: Ceolomycetous. Conidiomata pycnidia, superficial, solitary, scattered, globose, with slimy, shining spore mass and basal mycelium forming thick, black strands. Conidiophores erect, branched, septate, hyaline. Conidiogenous cells phialidic, discrete or in small whorls, lageniform to cylindrical, hyaline. Conidia oblong to ellipsoidal, 1- celled, hyaline smooth, with truncate abscission scar (adapted from Senanayake et al. 2014).
Type genus – Vialaea Sacc.
Notes – The phylogenetic placement of Vialaeaceae was confirmed in Xylariales (Shoemaker et al. 2013, Senanayake et al. 2014, Maharachchikumbura et al. 2015b). However, this family was accommodated in Amphisphaeriales based on phylogeny (Hyde et al. 2017a), and this is confirmed in this study.
Genera