Fungalpedia – Note 341, Graphiolites (Fossil fungi)

 

Graphiolites Fritel 1910

Citation when using this data: Saxena RK & Hyde KD. 2024 (in prep) – Fungalpedia, Fossil Fungi. 

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig. 1

Classification: Fossil Fungi, Basidiomycota, Ustilaginomycotina, Exobasidiomycetes, Exobasidiomycetidae, Exobasidiales, Graphiolaceae.

Graphiolites, was described by Fritel (1910) from the Sparnacian (Early Eocene, 55.5 mya) sediments of Cessoy, Seine-et-Marne, France. The genus includes fossil forms of which the external features and habitat agree with those of the extant Graphiola, i.e. fungi specialized in parasitizing palm fronds, where they form peridia consisting of deep, round or oval cupules. These cupules may be dispersed or arranged in a longitudinal series, parallel to the nervature of the fronds on which they grow. When the peridia are oval, the longer axis is always longitudinally aligned. Fritel (1910), for the first time, reported fossil spores of Graphiola and placed them in a new genus, Graphiolites. Kalgutkar & Jansonius (2000) stated that Graphiola was assigned to Fungi Imperfecti (Hyphomycetes, Amerosporae) by Poiteau (1824). Hughes (1953) recognized that this genus is currently considered to belong to Basidiomycota (Graphiolaceae, Ustilaginales). However, he also stated that this position generally is regarded as dubious. 

Type species: Graphiolites sabaleos Fritel 1910.

 

 

Figure 1 – Graphiolites sabaleos. Scale bar = 30 μm. Redrawn from Fritel (1910).

 

References

Fritel PH. 1910 – Étude sur les vegetaux fossiles de l’étage sparnacien du Bassin de Paris; Mémoires de la Société géologique de France, Paléontologie 40, 5–37.

Hughes SJ. 1953 – Conidiophores, conidia, and classification. Canadian Journal of Botany 31, p. 577–659.

Kalgutkar RM, Jansonius J. 2000 – Synopsis of fungal spores, mycelia and fructifications. AASP Contribution Series 39, 1–423.

Poiteau MA. 1824 – Description du Graphiola, nouveau genre des plantes parasite de la famille des champignons. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, série no. 3, 473–476.

 

Entry by

Ramesh K. Saxena, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, India

 

(Edited by Kevin D. Hyde, Samaneh Chaharmiri-Dokhaharani, & Achala R. Rathnayaka)

 

Published online 27 August 2024

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