Monoblastia
Monoblastia Riddle, Mycologia 15: 70 (1923).
Index Fungorum number: IF 3251; Facesoffungi number: FoF 08070, 12 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), no molecular data available.
Lichenized on bark or rarely on limestone, in terrestrial, chiefly lowland to montane tropical to subtropical habitats, with few species extending into temperate regions. Sexual morph: Thallus usually ecorticate, white. Photobiont Trentepohlia. Ascomata scattered or rarely clustered, erumpent to sessile, mostly black, carbonaceous, ostiolate, ostiole round. Involucrellum present or reduced, carbonized. Excipulum dense, consisting of compressed hyphae, appearing prosoplectenchymatous in thin, bleached sections, hyaline to brown or brown-black. Hamathecium comprising hyaline, straight, branched and anastomosing paraphyses. Asci (2–)8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical, short pedicellate, with broad, non-amyloid ocular chamber and fluorescent cap-structures. Ascospores mostly uniseriate, ellipsoid-oval, hyaline, non-septate, ornamented with warts, short ridges or spines. Asexual morph: Pycnidia rare. Conidia acrogenous, microconidia, non-septate, oblong to ellipsoid to fusiform, small, hyaline. Chemistry: Secondary substances absent (adapted from Hyde et al. 2013).
Type species: Monoblastia palmicola Riddle
Notes: Monoblastia is characterised by erumpent to sessile, mostly black, carbonaceous ascomata, dense excipulum comprising prosoplectenchymatous cells, fissitunicate, cylindrical, short pedicellate asci and ellipsoid-oval, hyaline, non-septate ascospores. Monoblastia differs from other lichenized genera in having peculiar, non-septate, spiny or warted ascospores. Monoblastia is a distinct and type genus of Monoblastiaceae but molecular data is unavailable for the genus. Monoblastia needs epitypification. Fresh collections and DNA sequence data are needed to carry out phylogenetic study on Monoblastia.
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