Kretzschmaria zonata (Lév.) P. Martin

TELEOMORPH | CULTURES AND ANAMORPH | SPECIMENS EXAMINED | NOTES

NOTES

Kretzschmaria zonata and K. deusta differ mainly in ascospore features. The former has darker, broader ascospores with a spore-length germ slit. The ends of mature ascospores are so deeply blackened that the germ slits look as if they are less than spore-length. Kretzschmaria zonata is widely distributed in the tropics and subtropics. It has been reported as a pathogen on a number of important tropical perennial crops (see earlier herein). Petch (1912, 1923, 1924, 1928) was inconsistent in his concept of K. zonata (as Ustulina). Petch (1912) expressed the opinion that K. zonata and K. deusta (as U. vulgaris) are identical. In 1923 he discussed the fungus as U. zonata in relation to the disease of tea bush. In 1924 he accepted it as distinct from U. vulgaris. Influenced by Van Overeem's assertion that U. vulgaris and U. zonata are identical, he (1928) once again writes that U. vulgaris and U. zonata are identical.

We were unable to locate the type of Sphaeria zonata, as was Petch (1928). We have not studied the type of Ustulina vulgaris f. madagascariensis. This fungus was reported to have ascospores 20-28 x 7-10 mm (see Dennis, 1963) and very likely belongs here.