Fungalpedia – Note 2700, Epicladonia
Epicladonia D. Hawksw.
Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Classification: Leotiomycetes genera incertae sedis, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Epicladonia was intrudoced by Hawksworth (1981b) to accommodate three lichenicolous species found exclusively on Cladonia, often forming galls. The species E. sandstedei, originally described as Diplodina sandstedei by Zopf, was designated as the type species following its recombination by Hawksworth (1981b). Epicladonia was initially placed within the Sphaeropsidales (Coelomycetes) and is characterized by solitary, unilocular, subglobose to cupuliform, dark brown conidiomata that are immersed or erumpent. Its conidiogenous cells are holoblastic, acrogenous, subcylindrical to elongate-ampulliform, proliferating, annellate, unbranched, and hyaline. The conidia are subcylindrical to narrowly ellipsoid or cymbiform, hyaline, and 0–1-septate. In key of Hawksworth (1981b), three species were primarily distinguished by pycnidial diameter and the number of septa in their conidia.
Ihlen et al. (2005) introduced Epicladonia lapponica, which grows on Pleopsidium chlorophanum. However, this species was later transferred to Phacographa lapponica (Ihlen) by Frisch et al. (2022) based on phylogenetic analysis. Another species, E. heterodermiae, was introduced by Joshi et al. (2017b) from Heterodermia, though its classification was based solely on morphological characteristics.
Four species are accepted within this genus, with three having available sequences in GenBank. In the phylogenetic analysis by Pino-Bodas et al. (2017), three species were included. The results revealed that Epicladonia is polyphyletic, with E. sandstedei belonging to Leotiomycetes, while E. simplex and E. stenospora align with Lecanorales (Lecanoromycetidae, Lecanoromycetes). Unlike E. sandstedei, which often induces gall formation and typically has septate conidia, E. simplex and E. stenospora rarely induce galls, and their conidia are generally aseptate (Hawksworth 1981b, Zhurbenko et al. 2017b). The distinctions in gall-like structures and conidial septation between these groups suggest significant morphological differences, though Pino-Bodas et al. (2017) did not propose a formal revision of the genus. Diederich (2018a) divided the five species into two groups in the checklist of lichenicolous fungi, and Wijayawardene et al. (2018, 2022) and Hyde et al. (2024) placed Epicladonia within Leotiomycetes genera incertae sedis.
Type species: Epicladonia sandstedei (Zopf) D. Hawksw.
= Diplodina sandstedei Zopf.
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Epicladonia.
Figure 1 – Epicladonia sandstedei redrawn from Hawksworth (1981b). a Infected podetium with galls. b Vertical section of pycnidium. c Vertical section of pycnidial wall. d Conidiogenous cells. e Conidia. Scale bars: a = 2 mm, b = 50 μm, c, d = 10 μm, e = 5 μm.
References
Diederich P, Lawrey JD, Ertz D. 2018a – The 2018 classification and checklist of lichenicolous fungi, with 2000 non-lichenized, obligately lichenicolous taxa. The Bryologist 121 (3), 340–425.
Frisch A, Ohmura Y, Holien H, Bendiksby M. 2022 – A phylogenetic survey of the ascomycete genus Arthrorhaphis (Arthrorhaphidaceae, Lecanoromycetes) including new species in Arthrorhaphis citrinella sensu lato. Taxon 71 (5), 936–962.
Hawksworth DL. 1981b – The lichenicolous Coelomycetes. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Botany 9 (1), 1–98.
Hyde KD, Noorabadi M, Thiyagaraja V, He M et al. 2024 – The 2024 Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa. mycosphere 15, 5146–6239.
Ihlen PG, Wedin M. 2005 – Notes on Swedish lichenicolous fungi. Nova Hedwigia 81 (3–4), 493–500.
Joshi Y, Falswal A, Joshi R. 2017b – A new species of lichenicolous fungus Epicladonia from India. Kavaka 48, 42–43.
Pino-Bodas R, Zhurbenko M, Stenroos S. 2017 – Phylogenetic placement within Lecanoromycetes of lichenicolous fungi associated with Cladonia and some other genera. Persoonia-Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi 39 (1), 91–117.
Wijayawardene NN, Hyde KD, Lumbsch HT, Liu JK et al. 2018 – Outline of Ascomycota: 2017. Fungal Diversity 88 (1), 167–263.
Wijayawardene NN, Hyde KD, Dai D-Q, Sanchez-Garcia M et al. 2022 – Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa – 2021. Mycosphere 13 (1), 53–453.
Zhurbenko MP, Pino-Bodas R. 2017b – A revision of lichenicolous fungi growing on Cladonia, mainly from the northern hemisphere, with a worldwide key to the known species. Opuscula Philolichenum 16, 188–266.
Entry by
Meng QF, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand and School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Guizhou 563000, China.
Published online 16 July 2026