Biscogniauxia mediterranea (De Not.) Kuntze

TELEOMORPH | CULTURES AND ANAMORPH | SPECIMENS EXAMINED | NOTES

NOTES

The outer dehiscing layer of B. mediterranea is thick, as is that of its large-spored variety, macrospora. However, the outer dehiscing layer of B. mediterranea var. microspora is thin, ca. 0.1 mm thick.

The conidiogenous structure is typically Periconiella-like (Jong and Rogers, 1972). Martin (1969b), however, stated that "This species shows enormous variation in size, shape and construction of the conidiophores, ranging all the way from a simple Sporothrix type through Acrostaphylus to the extremely complex Basidiobotrys." We have not seen a Xylocladium [= Basidiobotrys] state for any Biscogniauxia.

The basionym of B. mediterranea, Sphaeria mediterranea De Not., is predated by S. clypeus Schwein. Sphaeria clypeus was considered by Fries (1823) to be a synonym of S. nummularia (Bull.: Fr.) DC. & Lam. This apparently led Schweinitz (1832) to relabel his S. clypeus specimens as S. nummularia. Miller (1961) considered S. clypeus to be a nomen confusum and cited it as a possible synonym for both Hypoxylon mediterraneum (De Not.) Ces. & De Not. [º Biscogniauxia mediterranea (De Not.) Kuntze] and H. tinctor (Berk.) Cooke [º Camillea tinctor (Berk.) Laessøe, J. D. Rogers, & Whalley]. Prior to Miller (1961), Nummularia clypeus (Schwein.) Cooke had been widely used for this fungus in North America (e.g., Cooke, 1883c; Ellis and Everhart, 1892; Shear, 1941). We examined several specimens that were relabeled as Sphaeria nummularia by Schweinitz from PH. The packet containing material collected from Salem and Bethlehem is considered to be Schweinitz's original material from North Carolina, and is accordingly accepted as the holotype of S. clypeus. Other specimens are later collections from Pennsylvania; they are either C. tinctor or C. punctulata (Berk. & Ravenel) Laessøe, J. D. Rogers, & Whalley. Some of the C. punctulata specimens are immature. A specimen labeled as Sphaeria nummularia var. striata, an unpublished variety from New York, is C. tinctor. Two packets [as Sphaeria nummularia (BPI 800382 & 800383)] that were split from the Schweinitz material by C. L. Shear do not have ascospores. However, the punctate ostioles suggest C. punctulata rather than B. mediterranea. They apparently correspond to the Schweinitz collections from Pennsylvania. Owing to a certain amount of confusion, however, and the fact that B. mediterranea is so widely known, we continue to accept this name. Sphaeria sertata Durieu & Mont. was originally published by Durieu and Montagne in the first volume of Durieu's Flore d'Algérie. The publishing date of this work was considered to be from 1846 to 1849 by Lindau and Sydow (1908), earlier than the publishing date of S. mediterranea. However, Dennis (1984) noted that the publication of Flore d'Algérie was delayed until 1869, even after Montagne (1856) had made the combination Hypoxylon sertatum (Durieu & Mont.) Mont. One of the type specimens of S. incrustans Pers.: Fr. [º Hypoxylon incrustans (Pers.: Fr.) Mont.] at L is this fungus. Sphaeria incrustans was considered to be a nomen confusum by Ju and Rogers (1996). We were unable to locate the type of Hypoxylon stigmateum Cooke at K. A specimen identified by Cooke as Nummularia stigmatea at GZU is B. mediterranea.