Fungalpedia – Note 2715, Globosphaeria
Globosphaeria D. Hawksw.
Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Classification: Sordariales genera incertae sedis, Sordariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi.
Globosphaeria was introduced by Hawksworth (1990a) to accommodate a single species, G. jamesii, which grows on the squamules of Normandina pulchella. This genus is characterized by its perithecioid, subglobose ascomata that are brownish-black and ostiolate, with slender, septate paraphyses. The asci are thin-walled, cylindrical, and contain eight uniseriate, thick-walled, globose, hyaline ascospores, each with a distinct germ pore (Hawksworth 1990a).
Initially, Hawksworth (1990a) placed Globosphaeria in Xylariales based on the presence of filiform paraphyses and the germ pore on its ascospores. However, Lumbsch et al. (2007) later reclassified it under Sordariales as incertae sedis. To confirm its phylogenetic placement, additional molecular data are essential.
Type species: Globosphaeria jamesii D. Hawksw. on Normandina pulchella (Hawksworth 1990a).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Globosphaeria.
Figure 1 – Globosphaeria jamesii redrawn from Hawksworth (1990a). a Ascoma. b Asci. c Ascus apices with included ascospores and angularly compressed ascospores. d Portion of paraphyses. Scale bars: a = 200 μm, b = 25 μm, c, d = 10 μm.
References
Lumbsch HT, Huhndorf SM. 2007 – Outline of Ascomycota—2007. Myconet 13, 1–58.
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 22 July 2026