Chlorencoelia

Chlorencoelia. J.R. Dixon.

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank

Classification: Cenangiaceae, Helotiales, Leotiomycetidae, Leotiomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi

Members of the Cenangiaceae grow typically on xeric leaves or bark, but Chlorencoelia spp. form apothecia on hygric, rotten, decorticated wood, mainly of angio- but also gymnosperms. Dixon (1975) discussed the overlap of character ranges of Chlorencoelia versiformis and C. torta. However, analysis of ITS data, including sequences from recent collections in Estonia and USA, distinguished these two species . Ascospores examined in these collections also provide a clear distinction, being 2–6-guttulate and subcylindric-allantoid in 
C. versiformis, but biguttulate and subcylindric- ellipsoidal in C. torta. Ascospores from collections of both species germinated on MEA, producing sterile olivaceous colonies comprised of hyphae 1.5–3.5 μm in diam. All isolates remained sterile over 2 months, with no characters observed to distinguish the two species in culture. The ITS phylogenies did not support the monophyly of Chlorencoelia. Among collections labelled as C. torta, those from North America (collected near the type locality), were distinct from South-East Asian collections, suggesting that these represent distinct species. INSD ITS sequences with ≥95 % similarity obtained from ectomycorrhizal root tips or litter of conifers probably represent one or more closely related taxa, segregated from C. versiformis and C. torta at the species or generic level. Whereas these two species produce apothecia on decaying hygric wood, their close relatives can grow as endophytes of aerial plant parts, which is characteristic of members of the Cenangiaceae.

Type species: Chlorencoelia versiformis (Pers.) J.R. Dixon, Mycotaxon 1(3): 224 (1975)

References

Pärtel K, Baral HO, Tamm H, Pôldmaa K. 2017. Evidence for the polyphyly of Encoelia and Encoelioideae with reconsideration of respective families in Leotiomycetes. Fungal Diversity. 82:183–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13225-016-0370-0.