Fungalpedia – Note 2243, Plochmopeltis
Plochmopeltis Theiss.
Citation when using this data: Hongsanan S et al. 2020 – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank.
Classification: Schizothyriaceae, Mycosphaerellales, Dothideomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Plochmopeltis was introduced to accommodate an epiphytic fungus, forming hypophyllous ascomata on leaves of Quercus arenaria in Florida, the USA which was previously identified as Asterina intricata. Plochmopeltis is characterized by brown to dark brown, superficial, dimidiate to scutate, or crustaceous ascomata, without peridial walls, covering by reddish brown hyphae, septate, roughly coarse, with brown to reddish brown mycelium clumps at the top, 8- spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, globose to subglobose, or clavate asci, embedded in subhyaline to light brown, hamathecial networks and hyaline, ellipsoidal to oblong or clavate, septate ascospores (Phookamsak et al. 2016). Theissen (1914) and Petrak (1929) described Plochmopeltis as forming small plectenchymatous peridial cells. However, von Arx (1959) and Phookamsak et al. (2016) recircumscribed the genus based on the type specimen of Asterina intricata and indicated that Plochmopeltis did not form a peridium, but had confluent mycelium with clumps at the apex, covering the asci. Plochmopeltis occurs on various hosts in tropical to subtropical regions, such as Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Florida (USA), and the West Indies (von Arx 1959, Müller & von Arx 1962, Farr & Rossman 2020). Plochmopeltis differs from other genera in Schizothyriaceae due to the lack of peridial structure and forming confluent mycelium with brown hyphae clumps at the apex covering the asci. Phookamsak et al. (2016) and Wijayawardene et al. (2018) tentatively placed the genus in Schizothyriaceae pending future studies.
Type species: Plochmopeltis intricata (Ellis & G. Martin) Theiss., Brotéria, sér. bot. 12(1): 87 (1914).
≡ Asterina intricata Ellis & G. Martin, Am. Nat. 18: 69 (1884).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Plochmopeltis.
References
Farr DF, Rossman AY. 2020 – Fungal Databases, Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory, ARS, USDA. from http://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/
Müller E, von Arx JA. 1962 – Beitrage zur Kryptogamenflora der Schweiz 11, 1–922.
Petrak F. 1929 – Mykologische Notizen. X Annales Mycologici 27, 324–410.
Theissen F. 1914 – Annotacoes à Mycoflora Brasileira. Brotéria Série Botânica. 12, 13–31.
von Arx JA. 1959 – Über die Ascomycetengattung Plochmopeltis Theiss. Persoonia 1: 1–5.
Entry by
Sinang Hongsanan, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People’s Republic of China, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50002, Thailand
Published online 25 March 2026