Tirisporella gen. nov., an ascomycete from the mangrove palm Nypa fruticans

Abstract

Tirisporella beccariana comb.nov. is redescribed from decomposing leaf petiole (or rachis) bases of Nypa fruticans recently collected in Malaysia and the Philippiines. The superficial ascomata bear bitunicate asci with (3-)5(-7)-septate ascospores that are brown and verrucose, except for the prominent hyaline basal cell, and furnished with a distinctive apical appendage that arises from the spore wall. Te ultrastructure of the fungus is contrasted with that of species of Corollospora and Corallicola, with particular reference to the mode of ascospore appendage formation. The species was originally described from a Sarawak collection as Sphaeria becariana and later transferred to Melanomma and given the new name Melanomma cesatianum. Gibberidea nipae is a synonym. The recent collections were compared with type specimens. The fungus is not properly placed in Melanomma or Gibberidea or other known genera and a new genus Tiriporella is described.