Sclerococcum simplex Hawksworth (1979:249) Index Fungorum

Thiyagaraja, Vinodhini, Ertz, Damien, Hyde, Kevin D., Karunarathna, Samantha C., To-Anun, Chaiwat & Cheewangkoon, Ratchadawan, 2022, Morphological and phylogenetic reassessment of Sclerococcum simplex from China, Phytotaxa 559 (2), pp. 167-175 : 170

Sclerococcum simplex Hawksworth (1979:249) Index Fungorum no. IF323243; Facesoffungi no. FoF 10100 ( Fig. 2 )

Description of the Chinese specimen: Lichenicolous on Pertusaria sp. Colonies forming discrete patches mainly on the ascomata and rarely on thallus of the host.

Asexual morph: Sporodochia 95–185 µm diam., 85–155 µm high (x̄ = 140 × 120 μm, n = 10), stromatic, dark brown, subglobose to irregular, immersed to erumpent, aggregated into dense sporodochia. Vegetative hyphae 1.5–5 μm thick, hyaline to brown, septate, slightly constricted at the septa, irregularly branched, immersed in the host thallus. Conidiophore merismatic, not branched, hyaline to pale brown. Conidiogenous cells 2.5–3 μm thick, monoblastic, terminal, integrated, hyaline or pale brown, not very distinct. Conidia 3–7 × 2–5 µm, (x̄ = 5 × 3.5 μm, n = 20), produced in short basipetal chains, separating easily, acrogenous, ellipsoid or angular, light brown to dark brown, thick wall, mainly non-septate, rarely 2-celled, cells separating easily, the resulting part-conidia often more or less triangular, the lower cell often smaller, all parts becoming slightly darker in K.

Sexual morph: unknown.

Specimens examined. CHINA, Yunnan Province, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture , Shangri-La, (N 27 o 55’ 54.9”, E 099 o 34’ 39.0”, 4045m MSL), on corticolous host thallus of Pertusaria sp. , 12 September 2018, V. Thiyagaraja ( MFLU 21-0117 ) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Sclerococcum simplex (MFLU 21-0117) A, B, D. Conidiomata on the host thallus. C, E–G. Vertical sections of sporodochia in water.H. Conidiophores and conidiogenous cells in water.I. Conidia in 5% KOH.J. Vegetative hyphae in water.K–U. Conidia in water. Scale bars:A–D = 500 μm, E–G= 100 μm, H = 10 μm, I = 20 μm, J–U = 5 μm.