Fungalpedia – Note 2857, Phaeostalagmus
Phaeostalagmus. W. Gams.
Citation when using this data: Wenping Wu et al. 2022 – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank
Classification: Chaetosphaeriaceae, Chaetosphaeriales, Sordariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Colonies darkly pigmented and very slow growing. Teleomorph: Unknown. Anamorph: Conidiophores stipes dark brown, erect, with branching, giving rise either to whorls of phialides or a series of branches which eventually terminate in verticillate phialides. Conidiogenous cells monophialidic, flask-shaped, pigmented; collarettes conspicuous, flaring, funnel-shaped. Conidia hyaline, aseptate, ellipsoidal, formed in slimy head.
Ecology/Substrate/Host: Saprobe on decaying plant material.
Geographical distribution: Broadly distributed.
Description and illustration: Gams and Holubová-Jechová (1976); Hughes (1978); Wang and Sutton (1982); Minter and Holubová-Jechová (1981); Sutton and Melnik (1992).
Notes: The genus Phaeostalagmus was created to accommodate two dematiaceous species P. cyclosporum (Grove) W. Gams and P. tenuissimus (Corda) W. Gams, both with apically branched conidiophores, flask-shaped and monophialidic conidiogenous cells with flaring, funnel-shaped collarettes, and hyaline, aseptate, ellipsoidal conidia in slimy head (Gams & Holubová-Jechová, 1976). Since then, 5 additional species have been described under the genus, including P. altissimus, P. arbusculus, P. novae-zelandiae, P. peregrinus and P. rossicus. These species can be distinguished by manner of arrangement of conidiogenous cells on conidiophores, and conidial morphology (shape and size) (Ellis 1971; Gams and Holubová-Jechová 1976; Hughes 1978; Wang and Sutton 1982; Minter and Holubová-Jechová 1981; Sutton and Melnik 1992). In the phylogenetic analysis, it is clearly shown that the type species of Phaeostalagmus, P. cyclosporus, belongs to Chaetosphaeriaceae. However, no DNA sequence data is available for any other species, and the phylogenetic relationship of the remaining species with the type species of the genus remains to be studied.
Key to known species of Phaeostalagmus
1. Most phialides formed directly on the conidiophore in whorls of 2-5………………………….2
1. Most phialides formed on branches of the conidiophore……………………….……………….4
2. Phialides 10–13 × 3–4 μm, collarette inconspicuous; conidia 3–4 × 1.2–1.8 μm..P. tenuissimus
2. Phialides >15 μm long, collarette funnel-shaped; conidia >4 μm long in average…………..…3
3. Phialides concolorous, 16–27 × 3–4 μm; conidia 4–8 × 1–2.3 μm……………..…P. peregrinus
3. Phialides darker in upper part, 18–30 × 2.5–3.5 μm; conidia 5–6 × 1.2–1.5 μm……P. minimus
4. Conidia >5 μm long………………………………………………………….…………………5
4. Conidia <5 μm long…………………………………………………………………………….6
5. Phialides up to 5 in clusters, 12.5–18 × 2.5–3.5 μm; conidia 5–7 × 1.8–2 μm………..P. novae-zelandiae
5. Phialides 1–2 in clusters, 21–28 × 2.5–4 μm; conidia 5.5–12.5 × 1.25–2 μm……….P. rossicus
6. Most branches & phialides formed alternately on the conidiophore; phialides 12–16.5 × 2.5–3 μm; conidia cylindrical to allantoid, hyaline, 2–3 × 1 μm……………………………P. arbusculus
6. Most branches & phialides formed oppositely on the conidiophore……………………………7
7. Conidiophores up to 500 μm high, phialides lageniform, 6–12 × 1.7–2.5 μm; conidia ellipsoidal, ovoidal to cylindrical, hyaline, 1.5–3 × 1–2 μm………………………..P. cyclosporus
7. Conidiophores up to 1000 μm high, phialides cylindrical, 10–15 × 2–3 μm; conidia obovate, brown, 2 × 1.5 μm………………………………………………………………….…P. altissimus
Type species: Phaeostalagmus cyclosporus (Grove) W. Gams.
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Phaeostalagmus.
References
Ellis MB 1971 – Dematiaceous Hyphomycetes. Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew
Hughes SJ 1978 – New Zealand fungi 25 Miscellaneous species. N Z J Bot 16:311–370.
Sutton BC, Mel’nik VA 1992 – Phaeostalagmus rossicus sp. nov. from Russia. Mycol Res 96:908–910.
Wang CJK, Sutton BC 1982 – New and rare lignicolous hyphomycetes. Mycologia 74:489–500.
Entry by
Wenping Wu, R&D Center, Novozymes China, No. 14 Xin Xi Lu, Shangdi Zone, Haidian District, Beijing 100085, P.R. China
Published online 11 August 2026