GENERIC DESCRIPTION

Type species: W. microplaca (Berk. & M. A. Curtis) J. D. Rogers, Y.-M. Ju, & San Martín

Stromata applanate, solitary or confluent, lacking KOH-extractable pigments; outer dehiscing layer dark brown, thin, exposing mature black surface; carbonaceous tissue immediately beneath surface; the tissue between perithecia mainly composed of fungal tissue, coriaceous, white, becoming brownish; the tissue below the perithecial layer inconspicuous.

Perithecia globose, monostichous.

Ostioles lower than the level of stromatal surface and appearing punctate on the stromatal surface.

Asci eight-spored, cylindrical, short-stipitate, persistent, with apical ring discoid, amyloid.

Ascospores light brown, unicellular in both mature and immature ascospores, ellipsoid-inequilateral, with narrowly rounded ends, with straight germ slit; perispore indehiscent in 10% KOH; epispore smooth.

Anamorph Geniculosporium-like, but with denticulate conidial secession scars and scolecosporous conidia.

Both Whalleya and Jumillera produce scolecosporous conidia. The scolecosporous conidia produced by Whalleya differ from those of Jumillera mainly in being dry and in being borne on hyphomycetous conidiophores. Unlike most collections of Jumillera, Whalleya has the space between perithecia filled primarily with fungal tissue.