- Ascospores 20 – 40 x 6 – 12 μm.

= Hysterium pulicare Pers. : Fr. 

Fries, E. 1823. Syst. Myc. II: 579-580. Cosmopolitan. On living tree bark or dead wood of: Pinus, Larix, Populus, Salix, Juglans, Ostrya, Betula, Alnus, Castanea, Quercus, Ulmus, Platanus, Aesculus, Tilia, Rhododendron, Olea, & Rosmarinus.

Hysterium acerinum Westend. (after Bisby)
Hysterium acervulatum Schw. (after Saccardo, 1883)
Hysterium alneum (Ach.) Schroter, 1893 Lichen alneus Ach. (after Fries, 1823)
Hysterium betulignun Schw., 1834
Hysterium biforme Fries, 1823
Sphaeria cistula Wallr. (after Saccardo, 1883)
Osterion europaeum Duby, 1862
Hysterium pedicellatum Schum. (after Fries, 1823)
Hysterographium pulicare Corda, 1842
Hysterium pulicare var. acerinum (West.) Sacc., 1883
Hysterium pulicare var. juglandis Schw. (after Saccardo, 1883)
Hysterium pulicare var. leave Pers. (after Saccardo, 1883)
Hysterium pulicare var. lenticulare Fries, 1823
Hysterium pulicare var. striatum Chev. (after Saccardo, 1883)
Hysterium rosmarini Dias et da Camara, 1952
Hysterium teres Schw., 1834
Hysterium truncatulum Cooke et Peck (in Cooke, 1877)
Lophium unguiculatus Wallr., 1833

Ellis & Everhart (1892): “Hysterothecia scattered or gregarious, superficial, variable in shape, oblong, ellipsoid, longitudinally striate, black, lips obtuse, slightly open exposing the linear disk, about 1mm long & 0.5mm broad. Asci clavate. Ascospores sub-biseriate, oblong, straight or slightly curved, three septate, hardly constricted, the two end cells paler, straight or nearly so, each cell with a single nucleus, 18-25 x 7-9 μm. Common on bark of various deciduous trees. Very variable in the shape of the hysterothecia, which in the typical form are short & broad, sub-elliptical, but elongated oblong forms are not uncommon, though in this respect European spp. show less variation than the American.”

Bisby (1941): “Occurs on bark & wood of broadleaved trees, especially of Betula. Found on rough, black areas on bark of living Betula (Surrey, UK, Jan.). Hysterothecia scattered or gregarious, inconspicuous, superficial or nearly so, 0.4 – 1mm long, 0.3 – 0.4mm wide, dull black, marked with an indistinct line or two each side of & parallel with the central cleft; the cleft gradually widens to expose the hymenium, which is coloured dark brown by the tips of the paraphyses; asci clavate, 8-spored, 1 – 3 seriate, about 100 μm long, spore-bearing part 50 – 80 x 15 – 20 μm; ascospores 21 – 26 x 6 – 8 μm, 3-septate, the two central cells olive-brown & larger than the end cells; both end cells paler in about 80% of the spores, only one end cell paler in about 10% & all four cells brown in 10%.”

Hysterium pulicare Fr. : Fr. 

 

a. Ascospores 20 μm or less in length.

- Ascospores (12) 14 – 21 (28) x (3) 4 – 8 (10) μm; firmly 3 septate; no septal constrictions; end cells obtuse.

= Hysterium angustatum Alb. et Schw.

Alb. et Schw. 1805. Consp. Fung. Lusat.: 55. Cosmopolitan. On bark & old wood of Podocarpus, Pinus, Larix, Picea, Juniperus, Chamaerops, Populus, Ostrya, Corylus, Betula, Fagus, Quercus, Ficus, Pyrus, Rubus, Rosa, Prunus, Pistacia, Acer, Aesculus, Allophylus, Dodonaea, Cistus, Myrtus, Eucalyptus, Erica, & Rosmarinus.

Hysterium acuminatum Fries, 1823
Hysterium acuminatum var. alpinum Rehm (after Saccardo, 1883, & Rehm, 1896)
Gloniella ambigua Karst., 1891
Hysterium angustatum var. cerotoniae Toll, 1905
Hysterium eucalypti Phill. et Hark., 1884b
Hysterium Karstenii Lohman, 1939
Hysterium lentisci Toll&, 1901
Hysterium pulicare var. angustatum Kunze (after Fries, 1823)
Hysterium pulicare var. totarae Sacc., 1908

Ellis & Everhart (1892): “Hysterothecia gregarious or crowded, more or less immersed in the bark or often superficial, mostly elongated or linear, nearly smooth, black, 0.75-1.25mm long, lips more or less open. Asci 75-80 x 12-15 μm. Ascospores sub-biseriate, oblong, obtuse, three-septate, all of the cells brown, usually with a single nucleus per cell, measuring 15-22 x 6-7 μm. On wood & bard of various hardwood trees.”

Lohman (1933): “Hysterothecia (0.6-) 0.8 – 1.2 x 0.4 mm, oblong, rounded above with a prominent fissure, rugose-punctate to faintly longitudinally striate, straight to subflexuous, densely aggregated, most irregularly oriented, & superficial upon a greening black crust dense with algal cells. Asci 105 – 120 x 10 – 16 μm including the stalk; paraphyses filiform, much branched above & forming an epithecium. Ascospores 22 – 26 x 6.5 – 8 (9) μm, biseriate, elliptic fusiform & slightly curved, rich brown & 3-septate with the cells swollen. On bark & wood, living Betula alba var. papyrifera (Marsh.) Spach. (WI, Sept.).”

Lee & Crous (2003): “Ascomata hysterothecioid, subglobose to globose in vertical section, solitary to gregarious, erumpent to superficial with base immersed, straight to flexuous, ellipsoid or elongated with pointed extremes, opening by a depressed longitudinal slit, 0.4 – 0.6mm side, 0.1 – 0.2mm high. Peridium consisting of three layers, up to 25 μm in dia., carbonaceous, outer layer dark, inner layer hyaline, compressed, middle layer consisting of 1 – 2 rows of thick walled, brown cells. Pseudoparaphyses cellular, hyaline, septate, flexuous, branched, 1 – 2 μm wide. Asci bitunicate, cylindric to claviform, stipitate, octosporous, biseriate, 63 – 87 x 8 – 10 μm. Ascospores (14-) 16 (-18) x (4-) 5 (-6) μm, (mean = 16 x 5 μm), ellipsoid, slightly curved, light brown, the end cells are rarely paler than the centre cells, biseriate, with three transverse septa, often slightly constricted at medium septum. Concolorous, with less than 5% of ascospores versicolorous in a given ascoma.”

Hysterium angustatum Alb. et Schw.

 

- Ascospores (14) 15 – 18 (20) x 5 – 7 μm; (2) 3 (4) septate; prominantly constricted at first formed septum; basal cell extended. Red hamathecial pigment.

= Hysterium asymmetricum Checa, Shoemaker & Umana

Checa, Shoemaker & Umana (2007): "Ascomata semi-immersed, hyteriform, 0.5 - 1.5mm long, 250 - 300 um wide, 250 - 300um high, smooth, glabrous. Sulcus central. Wall in longitudinal section laterally uniformly 40 - 60um thick of 10 - 12 layers of rectangular, brick-like, 12 - 14 x 2 - 3um pseudoparenchyuma cells, compressed near centrum. Paraphyses numerous, 1um wide, aseptate, without guttules, without slime coating, outermost centrum tissue red. Asci bitunicate, numerous, in a basal cluster, cylindrical to slightly clavate, 80 - 90um x 10 - 12um (pars sporif.), later with narrow stalk about 100um long, with eight, overlapping linearly biseriate ascospores to uniseriate near stalk. Ascospores terete, ellipsoidal, L/W 3.2, inequilateral to slightly curved, (14-) 15 - 18 (-20) x 5 - 7um, transversely (2) 3 (4) septate, in sequence 2:1:2(3), without vertical septa, first-formed septum supramedian (0.44), constricted at first-formed septum, without dots at ends of septa, septa thin with central pore, widest at short second cell from apex, basal cell longest, uniformly pale reddish brown, without guttules, smooth, without sheath." Neotropical: Collected from Guanacaste, Tempisque, National Park Palo Verde, Costa Rica.

 

b. Ascospores greater than 20 μm in length.

- Ascospores 35 – 40 x 12 – 14 μm.

= Hysterium vermiforme Massee

Massee. 1901. Kew Bull., Nrn. 175-177: 150-169. Rare. Africa (Gold Coast). Known only from original collection (Zogg, 1962). Yet, recently described from the Russian Far East (Vasilyeva 1999).

Vasilyeva (1999): “Hysterothecia elongated, superficial, straight to subflexuous, black, 0.5 – 1.5 x 0.1 – 0.2 mm. Asci cylindrical,, short-stipitate, 120 – 140 x 20 – 24 μm.. Ascospores biseriate, fusiform, 3-septate, brown, 35 – 40 (46) x 8 – 10 (12) μm. On wood of Salix sp. Distribution in Russian Far East: Amur Region. Ascospore length corresponds also to Hysterium sinense Teng (38 - 50 μm), but the latter species differs in ascospore septation having up to 7 septa & somewhat wider ascospores (11 – 15 μm).”

 

- Ascospores 40 – 57 x 11 – 15 μm.

= Hysterium macrosporum W.R. Gerard

Gerard In Peck. 1874. 26th Rep. State Mus. N.Y. for 1872: 35 – 91. Rare. Known only from original collection. Collected from dead wood of Pinus from New York, authenticated by Bisby (1932). And yet recently descirbed from the Russian Far East as well (Vasilyeva 1999).

Ellis & Everhart (1892): “Hysterothecia superficial or nearly so, oblong or elliptical, sometimes slightly flexuous 200-400 μm long, black, opening by a narrow chink, the lips slightly striate. Asci sub-cylindrical, 125-150 x 25-30 μm, four- to eight-spored. Ascospores crowded in the ascus, oblong or sub-fusiform, sometimes slightly curved, at first colorless & uni-septate, then colored & tri-septate, 40-57 x 12-15 μm. On decaying wood of Pinus, New York (Peck).”

Vasilyeva (1999): “Hysterothecia scattered or in small groups, elongated, superficial or slightly immersed, straight to subflexuous, black, ca. 3mm long & 0.2mm wide. Asci cylindrical shrot-stipitate, 140 – 160 x 26 – 29 μm. Ascospores 2 – 3 seriate, fusiform, 3-septate, brown, 60 – 66 x 10 – 12 μm. On wood of Pinus koraiensis Seibold et Zucc. Primorsky & Khabarovsk Territories, Russian Far East. This species is restricted to Pinus wood. It was described from NY in USA & is know also from China (Teng, 1933). Such distribution suggests the association with fragments of ancient Tertiary floras conserved in the Eastern USA & Eastern Asia.”

Note: Vasilyeva lists this as: Hysterium macrosporum Peck (not Gerard).

 

- Ascospores (20) 23 – 28 (38) x (5) 7 – 10 (13) μm.

= Hysterium insidens Schw.

Schw. 1834. Syn. Ameri. Bor. Nr. 2078. Rare. Principally North- & South-America, Europe (Italy). Bark & old wood of Pinus, Larix, Castanea, Quercus, Eucalyptus, Fraxinus, Aspidosperma, & Lavandula. Also reported from South Africa (van der Linde, 1992).

Hysterium apiculatum Starb., 1899
Hysterium atlantis Maire, 1937
Hysterium batuscense Speg., 1910
Hysterium berengerii Sacc., 1878b
Hysterium complanatum Duby, 1862
Hysterium depressum Berk. et. Curt. (in Berkeley, 1875)
Hysterium fusiger Berk. et Curt. (in Berkeley, 1875)
Hysterographium insidens (Schw.) Sacc., 1883
Hysterium janusiae Rehm, 1898
Hysterium lavandulae Urries, 1941
Hysterium andicola Speg. (syn. from Messuti & Lorenzo, 1997)

Ellis & Everhart (1892): “Schweinitz originally stated: “Seated on a widely effused, black crust. Hysterothecia short, scattered, thick, oblong-ovate, sub-truncate, generally contracted into a pseudo-stipitate base, obtuse at the ends, black; lips gaping, inflexed”. The specimen in Herb. Schw. does not show any black crust, nor can the hysterothecia be called even pseudo-stipitate; the are only erumpent superficial, 0.75-1.25 mm long, obtuse, mostly lying parallel. Asci about 75 x 15 μm. Ascospores overlapping, sub-biseriate, fusoid, slightly curved, 6 – 8 septate, with one joint (about the third from the top) slightly swollen, reddish-brown, ends narrowed but sub-obtuse, 25-30 x 6-8 μm. Found by Schweinitz in Carolina on hard decaying wood. Specimens collected at Poughkeepsie, NY, on old chestnut wood have ascospores 30-40 x 7-9 μm, which is about the size of those in a specimen from Pine shingle found at Newfield, NJ. Hysterothecia variable, as are the number of septa in the ascospores”.

Lohman (1933): “On Quercus palings (Sept. – Oct.) MI. The common habitat is exposed medullary rays on radial surfaces of rails & palings. Conidial stage: Septonema spilomeum Berk., 1845.”

van der Linde (1992): “Fruitbodies single or in groups, embedded or erumpent, elongated, linear, tapering towards the ends, straight, not branched , up to 2.4 x 0.26mm. Pseudoparaphyses hyaline, septate, branched, with thickened tips, forming an epithecium above the asci. Asci broad-cylindrical, 8-spored, irregularly biseriate, 140 – 150 x 18 – 23um. Ascospores golden to dark brown, fusiform to oblong, phragmosporous, most commonly with 7 or 8 transverse septa, often constricted at median septum, middle cell usually swollen, 28 – 35 x 10 – 12um. The dimensions of both the asci & ascospores are larger than those given by Zogg (1962), according to whom ascospore length is (20) 23 – 28 (38)um.”

Hysterium insidens Schw.

 

- Ascospores 32 – 44 x 10 – 15 μm. [Note: Transferred to Mytilinidion andinense (Messuti & Lorenzo) Boehm, Schoch & Spatafora].

= Hysterium andinense Messuti & Lorenzo

Messuti & Lorenzo. 1997. Mycol Res 101: 302-304. Messuti & Lorenzo (1997): “Hysterothecia scattered, erumpent, not branched, 0.6 – 1.3 x 0.22 – 0.45 x 0.4 – 0.64mm, straight, striate. Pseudoparaphyses hyaline, septate, branched to 1.5 μm in dia. Asci cylindrical, 8-spored, 172 – 198 x 16 – 20 μm. Ascospores biseriate, fusiform, straight to slightly curved, first hyaline then greenish brown & guttulate when mature sienna, 3 – 7 (-9) septate, scarcely constricted at the septa with swollen middle cells, 32 – 44 x 10 – 15 μm. Related to Hysterium insidens Schwein. & H. sinense Teng. H. andinense is distinguished from the other related species by the fusiform, mainly 5-septate spores. H .insidens differs from the new species by the ellipsoidal rusty, smaller spores, mainly with 4 – 6 transverse septa. In H. andinense, when the spores have 5 septa they show a second swollen cell from the apical end; if they have 6 septa, then the swollen cell is the third from the apical end. H sinense has ellipsoidal spores with 7 transverse septa, & the cells are equal in size except the larger median cells. For the three species, the ascocarp length/width ratio is similar, but the average hysterothecial height of H. andinense is twice as large as or even larger than the average height of H. insidens & H. sinense. Furthermore, H. andinense has cylindrical asci, while the other two related species have claviform-cylindrical or claviform asci.” Note: Collected from Argentina, from bark of Austrocedrus chilensis.

Note: A recent four gene phylogeny (Boehm unpublished) shows this to be a species of Mytilinidion. In the coming publication, this taxon is transferred to Mytilinidion andinense (Messuti & Lorenzo) Boehm, Schoch & Spatafora comb. nov.

 

- Ascospores 38 – 50 x 11 – 15 μm.

= Hysterium sinense Teng

Teng. 1933. Sinensia 4: 129-144. China. Also reported from South Africa (van der Linde, 1992). Hysterium macrosporum Teng non Ger. Note: This species was also recently collected from well decorticated fence posts in Union Co., NJ, USA, making this the first record from the New World. It is probably cosmopolitan.

van der Linde (1992): “This species was originally described from China & is retained by Zogg (1962) on the basis of ascospore septation & length. Fruitbodies much the same as those of Hysterium insidens, single or closely associated in groups, embedded or erumpent, long, linear, tapering towards the ends, straight, not branched, up to 2.0 x 0.5m. Pseudoparaphyses hyaline, septate, slightly thickened & branched at the tips to form an epithecium. Asci broad-cylindrical (with a broader upper half), 8-spored, irregulary viseriate, 155 – 165 x 25 – 30um. Ascospores dark brown, fusiform to oblong, phragmosporous, usually constricted at median septum, middle cell swollen, most commonly 8- or 9-septate, 40 – 45 x 12 – 14um.”

Hysterium sinense Teng

 

- Ascospores 48 – 67 x 15 – 20 μm.

= Hysterium magnisporum W.R. Gerard

Gerard. 1873. Bull. Torr. Bot. Cl. 4: 64. Very rare. Known only from original collections. Collected from old Carya & Quercus wood.

Ellis & Everhart (1892): “Hysterothecia erumpent-superficial, about 1mm long, straight or slightly curved, ends sub-obtuse, black, sub-shining, longitudinally striate; lips slightly open so as to leave but a narrow fissure; usually one or two of the striae on each side, near the apex are deeper & more distinct. Asci clavate 150 x 35-40 μm, with a short stype & with abundant paraphyses. Ascospores irregularly crowded, broad, fusoid-oblong, slightly curved or a little bulging on one side, nearly hyaline & uni-septate at first, becoming deep clear brown & seven septate, three of the septa close to each end, measuring 50-60 x 15-20 μm. On a dead hickory limb, Poughkeepsie, NY (Gerard) & on dry decaying oak wood Newfield, NJ (Ellis).”