Calosphaeria

Calosphaeria Tul. & C. Tul., Select. fung. carpol. (Paris) 2: 108 (1863)

Diaporthomycetidae, Calosphaeriales, Calosphaeriaceae, Calosphaeria

Index Fungorum number: IF 753; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01134; 39 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020); 2 species with sequence data.

Decorticated wood or saprobic on wood or leaves in freshwater and terrestrial habitats. Sexual morph: Ascomata dark brown to black, perithecial, scattered or solitary, immersed, globose to subglobose, coriaceous or membranous, tuberculate or smooth or with hyphal coating, ostiolate. Neck long or short, periphysate. Peridium composed of dark brown, thick, outer layer coriaceous or membranous, reddish brown to brown cells of textura angularis; inner layer membranous, composed of hyaline cells of textura prismatica. Hamathecium composed of many, broad, septate, unbranched, tapering, paraphyses. Ascogenous hyphae hyaline, discrete, smooth, branched, producing a sympodial sequence of hyaline, ovoid to ellipsoidal cells, often with mucronate apex, in dense clusters, each giving rise to an ascus. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, clavate, long or short pedicellate, mostly in fascicles, apical ring distinct or absent. Ascospores hyaline, 2-seriate or overlapping, allantoid to ellipsoid, straight to marginally curved, aseptate, smooth-walled, sometimes with guttules. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Conidiophores micronematous, straight or flexuous, septate, branched, with a terminal. Phialides terminal or lateral, aggregated, monophialidic, smooth, hyaline, elongate ampulliform to subcylindrical, pigmented in the apical. Conidiogenous cells enteroblastic or holoblastic, phialidic, hyaline, with brown apex, smooth-walled. Conidia hyaline, aggregated, aseptate, cylindrical to allantoid, with or without guttules (adapted from Maharachchikumbura et al. 2016).

Type species: Calosphaeria princeps Tul. & C. Tul., Select. fung. carpol. (Paris) 2: 109 (1863)

Notes: Calosphaeria was introduced by Tulasne & Tulasne (1863) and typified by C. princeps. The acremonium-like asexual morphs, formerly referred to Calosphaeriophora, have been experimentally linked to Calosphaeria africana (Damm et al. 2008) and C. pulchella (Réblová et al. 2004).