Zogg (1962): Hysterothecia black, carbonaceous, brittle, hard, solid, stout, oval to elongated to linear, straight to slightly curved, simple to ramified, narrow to expanded, longitudinally cleft the length of the fruitbody, without a keel; inner portions of ascomata hyaline grading into the thicker carbonaceous outer walls. Asci prominently bitunicate, club-shaped to long cylindrical. Ascospores lacking any pigmentation & with many cross septa & no vertical septa: hyaline phragmospores. Ascospores oblong to long cylindric, spindle-shaped with blunted +/- acuminate ends, with septa ranging from three to nine, often constricted at the septa, or at least at the central septum. Most species of Gloniella have been collected on ferns in the old world (Europe & the Mediterranean), the exception being G. sardoa on Populus, & G. typhae on Typha. There are no records from the new world, the exception being the neotropical G. bambusae from Brazil.”

Wehmeyer (1975): “This genus has elongate ascostromata & hyaline ascospores with more than two cells. Some species has ascospores which become brown when fully mature & have been, therefore, transferred to Hysterium. Hysterium karstenii (Gloniella ambigua) with a Sporidesmium state is such a species.”

A. Hysterothecium more or less closed, oval to elongated, simple, rarely bent or ramifying.

1. Ascospores (seven-) eight- (nine-) celled, (16) 18 – 21 (26) x6 – 7 (8) μm:

= Gloniella sardoa Sacc. et Trav.

2. Ascospores (six-) seven to eight celled, (28) 32 – 38 (44) x (3) 4 – 8 (9) μm:

= Gloniella bambusae Zogg

B. Hysterothecium typically open early, oval to elongated to linear, simple or often ramified. 

1. Ascospores three-celled, 10 – 15 x 5 – 6 μm:

= Gloniella corticola P&e & Rao

2. Ascospores four-celled, 12 – 14 x 4 – 5 μm:

= Gloniella typhae (Fuckel) Sacc.

3. Ascospores (three-) four- (five-) celled, (11) 15 – 20 (23) x 3 – 5 μm:

= Gloniella adianti (Kze.) Petr.

4. Ascospores (four-) six-celled, (15) 18 – 20 (22) x 4 – 5 μm:

= Gloniella graphidoidea Rehm

5. Ascospores six- to eight-celled, (22) 25 – 27 (30) x 3 – 4 μm:

= Gloniella norm&ina Rehm

Detailed Dichotomous Key to species of the genus Gloniella Saccardo
(from Zogg 1962)

A. Hysterothecium more or less closed, oval to elongated, simple, rarely bent or ramifying.

1. Ascospores (seven-) eight- (nine-) celled, (16) 18 – 21 (26) x6 – 7 (8) μm:

= Gloniella sardoa Sacc. et Trav.

            Ann. Mycol., 1903, 1, 435. Rare. Europe (Sardinia). Collected from old wood of Populus.  

2. Ascospores (six-) seven to eight celled, (28) 32 – 38 (44) x (3) 4 – 8 (9) μm:

= Gloniella bambusae Zogg

            Zogg, 1962. Rare. Neotropics (Brazil). Collected from old bamboo canes. 1991 E.J. van der Linde from South Africa.

van der Linde (1992): “Fruiting bodies single or in groups, superficial or erumpent, elliptical to linear, tapering towards the ends, not branched, up to 2.0 x 0.2mm. Pseudoparaphyses hyaline, filiform, septate, swollen apically & branched to form an epithecium. Asci cylindrical, irregularly biseriate, 8-spored, 70 – 85 x 15 – 20um. Ascospores hyaline, fusiform, phragmosporous with 5 – 7 septa, middle cell often swollen, 30 – 35 x 5 – 8 um. Collected in 1991 #2330 (Tzaneen): Sirheni Cap near Shingwedzi (-AB), E. Grobbelaar 50958.”

B. Hysterothecium typically open early, oval to elongated to linear, simple or often ramified. 

1. Ascospores three-celled, 10 – 15 x 5 – 6 μm:

= Gloniella corticola P&e & Rao

Pande & Rao (1991): “Hysterothecia superficial, simple, dark, hard, oval, elongate or linear, up to 1 mm or slightly more in length, opening by a narrow slit. Wall dark black, 30 – 40 μm thick; innermost layer made up of hyaline, thin-walled, flattened cells. Asci many, arising from base of the fruitbody, cylindrical-clavate, stipitate, bitunicate, apex rounded, 90 – 105 x 10 – 14 μm. Ascospores hyaline, cylindrical with broadly acute ends, mostly 3-septate, measuring 10 – 15 x 5 – 6 μm. Paraphysoids branched, anastomosing. Collected on dead twigs near Pusad, Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu region, India.”

2. Ascospores four-celled, 12 – 14 x 4 – 5 μm:

= Gloniella typhae (Fuckel) Sacc.

Syll. Fung. II, 1883, 768-769. Rare. Europe (Germany). Collected from rotted leaves & culms of Typha angustifolia (Zogg, 1962).

Glonium chusqueae Speg.  (Lorenzo & Messuti, 1998: Zogg, 1962, as a ‘doubtful species’)

Lorenzo & Messuti (1998): “Hysterothecia small, 0.29 – 0.58 x 0.08 – 0.15 mm, more or less gregarious, erumpent, linear; pseudoparaphyses scarce, but present; asci 36 – 46 x 14 μm, claviform, octospored; ascospores with three transverse septa at maturity, hyaline, with slight constriction at the mid-septum, elliptic, obtuse extremes, 13 – 14 x 4 μm. Spegazzini described this from Chusquea valdiviensis in Chile.”

3. Ascospores (three-) four- (five-) celled, (11) 15 – 20 (23) x 3 – 5 μm:

= Gloniella adianti (Kze.) Petr.

Ann. Mycol., 1931, 29, 120. Rare. Mediterranean (Madera Islands). Collected from rotted fronds & stalks of Adiantum capillus-veneris.

4. Ascospores (four-) six-celled, (15) 18 – 20 (22) x 4 – 5 μm:

= Gloniella graphidoidea Rehm

            Hedwigia, 1903, 42, 290. Rare. Europe (Norm&y, France). Collected from dried fronds of Pteris aquiline.

5. Ascospores six- to eight-celled, (22) 25 – 27 (30) x 3 – 4 μm:

= Gloniella norm&ina Rehm

            Ann. Mycol., 1912, 10, 394. Rare. Europe (Norm&y, France). Collected from old fronds of Pteris aquiline.