Gibberidea visci

Gibberidea visci Fuckel, Jb. nassau. Ver. Naturk. 23-24: 168 (1870) [1869-70]                                             Fig. 1

Current name: Phaeobotryosphaeria visci (Kalchbr.) A.J.L. Phillips & Crous, in Phillips, Alves, Pennycook, Johnston, Ramaley, Akulov & Crous, Persoonia 21: 47 (2008).

Index Fungorum number: IF 227688; Facesoffungi number: FoF 06243 

Saprobic or pathogenic on undetermined plant stem. Sexual morph: See Phillips et al. (2013). Asexual morph: Conidiomata 290–397 μm high × 422−454 µm diam. (x̅ = 327.3 × 444.8 µm, n = 10), immersed to erumpent, unilocular, subglobose. Peridium 33−55 µm composed of dark brown cells of textura angularis. Conidiogenous cells 4–13 µm × 7−14 µm (x̅ = 8.5 × 10.8 µm, n = 10), hyaline, enteroblastic, discrete, proliferating internally to form periclinal thickenings. Conidia 34–43 μm × 14−17 µm (x̅ = 40.1 × 16.7 µm, n = 10), oval, apex obtuse to rounded, base obtuse or truncate, moderately thick-walled, initially hyaline, becoming brown, externally smooth-walled, internally finely verruculose.

Notes – Phillips et al. (2008) recorded the size of conidiomata of Sphaeropsis visci as ‘up to 300 µm’, conidiogenous cells as ‘(4–) 8.5–11× 4–6.5 µm’ and conidia as ‘(27–29–33(–50) × (14.5–) 15.5–19(–22) µm’ which is similar to our examined specimen.

Material examined – GERMANY, Saxony, on submerged decaying leaves, 7 November 1965, J.L. Crane (ILL00088985).

Economic significance – Sphaeropsis visci is a pathogen of Viscum album (mistletoe) (Varga et al. 2012).