Fungalpedia – Note 3058, Stictis

 

Stictis Pers. 

Citation when using this data: Senanayake IC et al. 2023 – Fungalpedia.

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

Classification: Stictidaceae, Ostropales, Ostropomycetidae, Lecanoromycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi.

Stictis species are distributed in tropical and temperate regions (Joshi et al. 2012). These species occur as saprophytes or lichenized fungi on dead twigs, leaves, fern fronds, grasses, and herbaceous stems (Wedin et al. 2004; Li and Hou 2016). Sexual morph of Stictis is characterized by the orbicular ascoma opening by a pore, periphysoids in apothecial margins that extend down the whole length, a hymenium that splits from the margin when dry with a thick crystalline layer in the ascoma margin and a non-parasitic niche. Phylogenetic analyses in Lu et al. (2021) and Thiyagaraja et al. (2021) based on combined LSU, ITS and SSU genes confirmed that Stictis species are polyphyletic and the phylogeny of this study also confirm it. There are 358 epithets listed in Index Fungorum (2023).

Type species: Stictis anomianthi N.I. de Silva, Lumyong & K.D. Hyde.

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Stictis.

Figure 1 – Stictis anomianthi (HKAS 107096, holotype). a, b Appearance of ascomata on substrate. c, d Vertical section through an ascoma. e, f Vertical sections of peridium. g–i Paraphyses and asci. j, k Ascospores. Scale bars: a = 500 μm, b = 200 μm, c = 100 μm, d = 50 μm, e–i = 20 μm, j, k = 10 μm. 

 

References

Joshi S, Upreti DK, Divakar PK. 2012 − Stictis palniense (Stictidaceae), a new species from India. Bryologist 115: 402−405.

Li GJ, Hyde KD, Zhao RN, Hongsanan S et al. 2016 – Fungal Diversity notes 253–366: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions to fungal taxa. Fungal Divers 78: 1–237.

Lu L, Tibpromma S, Karunarathna S, Thiyagaraja V et al. 2021 − Taxonomic and phylogenic appraisal of a novel species and a new record of Stictidaceae from coffee in Yunnan Province, China. Phytotaxa 528: 111−124. 

Thiyagaraja V, Lücking R, Ertz D, Karunarathna SC et al. 2021 − The evolution of life modes in Stictidaceae, with three novel taxa. J Fungi 7(2): 105−128.

Wedin M, Döring H, Gilenstam G. 2004 – Saprotrophy and lichenization as options for the same fungal species on different substrata: Environmental plasticity and fungal lifestyles in the Stictis–Conotrema complex. New Phytol 164: 459–465.

 

Entry by

Indunil C. Senanayake, Innovative Institute for Plant Health/ Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510225, Guangdong, China., Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand., Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, College of Life Science and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, 3688, Nanhai Avenue, Nanshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China., University of L’Aquila, Department MeSVA, sect. Environmental Sciences, Via Vetoio, 67100 Coppito (AQ), Italy.

 

Published online 28 August 2026

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