Fungalpedia – Note 2694, Thamnogalla
Thamnogalla D. Hawksw.
Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Classification: Cordieritidaceae, Helotiales, Leotiomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Thamnogalla was introduced by Hawksworth (1980) to accommodate the type species Thamnogalla crombiei, which forms galls on Thamnolia vermicularis. Initially, T. crombiei was thought to be a fruiting body of the lichen itself, but Arnold (1874) clarified that it was a lichenicolous fungus and named it Nesolechia vermicularis. Earlier, Mudd (1865) had described a fungus on Thamnolia as Endocarpon crombiei. Based on Massalongo’s original description, Hawksworth concluded that Endocarpon crombiei and Nesolechia vermicularis were the same species. Consequently, Nesolechia vermicularis was deemed invalid, and Endocarpon crombiei was transferred to Thamnogalla crombiei, designating it as the type species of Thamnogalla. More recently, Zhurbenko (2021a) introduced a second species, Thamnogalla episolorina, which parasitizes Solorina saccata. To date, the genus comprises two recognized species, with sequence data available for the type species in GenBank.
The genus is characterized by perithecia that are immersed, pale olive to nearly colorless, and have an ostiole. The paraphyses are filiform, unbranched, and septate. The asci are unitunicate, cylindrical to elongate-clavate, and eight-spored. The ascospores are ellipsoid, non-septate, hyaline, typically guttulate, smooth, and lack of a gelatinous sheath.
Initially, Thamnogalla was placed in Sphaeriales and tentatively assigned to Physosporellaceae by Hawksworth (1980). However, phylogenetic analysis by Suija et al. (2015b) later placed it within Helotiales (Leotiomycetes). Further analysis using five gene loci by Pärtel et al. (2017) classified the genus within Cordieritidaceae, a placement subsequently confirmed by Wijayawardene et al. (2018) and Hyde et al. (2024).
Type species: Thamnogalla crombiei (Mudd) D. Hawksw.
= Endocarpon crombiei Mudd.
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Thamnogalla.
Figure 1 – Thamnogalla crombiei redrawn from Hawksworth (1980b). a Galls on Thamnolia vermicularis. b Vertical section of ascomata. c Vertical section of ascomatal wall. d Asci and paraphyses. e Ascospores. Scale bars: a = 1 mm, b = 50 μm, c, d = 10 μm, e = 5 μm.
References
Arnold F. 1874a – Lichenologische Fragmente. XVI (Fortsetzung). Flora 57, 150–155.
Hawksworth DL. 1980a – Notes on some fungi occurring on Peltigera, with a key to accepted species. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 74 (2), 363–386.
Hyde KD, Noorabadi M, Thiyagaraja V, He M et al. 2024 – The 2024 Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa. mycosphere 15, 5146–6239.
Pärtel K, Baral H-O, Tamm H, Põldmaa K. 2017 – Evidence for the polyphyly of Encoelia and Encoelioideae with reconsideration of respective families in Leotiomycetes. Fungal Diversity 82, 183–219.
Suija A, Ertz D, Lawrey JD, Diederich P. 2015b – Multiple origin of the lichenicolous life habit in Helotiales, based on nuclear ribosomal sequences. Fungal Diversity 70 (1), 55–72.
Wijayawardene NN, Hyde KD, Lumbsch HT, Liu JK et al. 2018 – Outline of Ascomycota: 2017. Fungal Diversity 88 (1), 167–263.
Zhurbenko MP. 2021a – New species of lichenicolous fungi on Solorina. Herzogia 34 (1), 127–137.
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 16 July 2026