Pyrenomycetes Species Page

Chaetosphaeria chalaroides

Small clustered ascomata
didymospore
Hol.-Jech., Folia geobot. phytotax. 19(4): 396 (1984)

Sordariomycetidae
Chaetosphaeriales
Figure from IL1226, SMH2223 (Costa Rica), SMH1766 (Puerto Rico)
Complete Description
Ascomata ampulliform, dark brown to black, 140-220 µm diam., 130-200 µm high, superficial, occurring clustered in small groups with scattered conidiophores and setae on the ascomata and substrate. Ascomatal wall of textura angularis, 10-25 µm thick in longitudinal section, composed of brown, thick-walled pseudoparenchymatic cells. Ascomatal apex papillate, dark brown, shiny. Paraphyses sparse, unbranched, hyaline, septate. Asci cylindro-clavate, short-stalked, 50-80 x 6-8 µm, unitunicate, thin-walled, with an indistinct apical ring, with eight partially biseriately arranged ascospores. Ascospores ellipsoid to fusiform, hyaline, one-septate, (9-) 13-15 (-17) x 3-4 µm. Anamorph. Chalara breviclavata on the substrate and in culture. Subiculum with scattered conidiophores and setae that are brown, multiseptate. Conidiogenous cells 1-3 celled, cylindrical, phialidic, with deep collarette, pale brown, 9-14 x 4-5 µm, conidia produced enteroblastically. Conidia cylindrical to oblong, truncate base, hyaline, 7-18 x 3.5-5 µm.
Occurrence
Found on decaying wood. Our collections are from Costa Rica and Puerto Rico. The type is described from the Czech Republic and numerous other collections are known from Europe. Figure from IL1226, SMH2223 (Costa Rica), and SMH1766 (Puerto Rico).
Similar Taxa Comments
Our tropical collections of this species do not differ from the European collections described by Holubová-Jechová (1984) except for asci at the shorter end of the length range. The species appears to be very common and is easily identified by its anamorph on the substrate.
Reference
Holubová-Jechová, V. 1984. Lignicolous hyphomycetes from Czechoslovakia 7. Chalara, Exochalara, Fusichalara and Dictyochaeta. Folia Geobotanica et Phytotaxonomica 19: 387-438.