|
2. The genus Quasiconcha Barr & Blackwell Quasiconcha reticulata Barr & Blackwell was proposed (Barr and Blackwell 1980) to accommodate a mytilinidiaceous fungus with reticulate one-septate ascospores found fruiting on Juniperus seeds excreted in dung and also from the roots of two conifers in the southwestern United States (Blackwell and Gilbertson 1985). Barr (1990): “Ascomata superficial, scattered, conchate, medium sized; apex cristate, opening by longitudinal slit; surface black, shining, somewhat longitudinally striate; peridium carbonaceous, brittle, composed of radiating rows of parallel cells, heavily pigmented. Asci cylindric. Ascospores brown, ellipsoid, symmetric, straight one septate median constricted; wall coarsely reticulate, surrounded by delicate outer coating when immature; homogeneous; uniseriate in the ascus. Anamorph in culture as thick-walled chlamydospores & enteroblastic phialoconidia (Blackwell & Gilbertson, 1985). On ovules of Juniperus in animal dung; conifer roots. Type & sole species: Q. reticulata Barr & Blackwell. Type: on ovules of Juniperus virginiana in dung of ring-tailed cat, Hamilton’s Pool, Travis Co., Texas, 32 Jan 1967, M. Blackwell NY! (holotype). Ascomata 495 – 1000um long, 385 – 550um high, up to 300um wide. Asci 45 – 55 x 6 – 7.5um. Ascosproes 6 – 8 x 5 – 5.5um. Distribution: On ovules & roots of gymnosperms, southern United States. The ascospores have a striking resemblance to those of Testudina terrestris Bizzozero, a cleistothecioid fungus known from fallen conifer twigs & leaves in Europe. Blackwell & Gilbertson (1985) reported Q. reticulata from conifer roots (Pinus halpensis, Thuja occidentalis) in Arizona. They were successful in germinating ascospores & described & illustrated the formation of thick walled halydospores & enteroblastic phialoconidia in culture". Quasiconcha reticulata Barr & Blackwell, Mycologia 72: 1224. 1980. |
|
|
|