New and interesting aero-aquatic mitosporic fungi from Italy

Abstract

Spirosphaera lignicola sp. nov., an aero-aquatic mitosporic fungus found on a submerged unidentified decaying twig in a stream in woodland in Italy, is described and illustrated. It is characterized by developing more than one lateral branch on the parent filament, coiling and intertwining in different planes, then branching again in the same way, resulting in a tightly interwoven globose conidial propagule and also by its conidial filament which is knobbly. Two additional aero-aquatic species Candelabrum brocchiatum and Helicodendron luteo-album are reported for the first time in Italy.