Coniothyrium

Coniothyrium is a genus of fungi in the family Coniothyriaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Czech mycologist August Carl Joseph Corda in 1840. It was formerly placed in the Phaeosphaeriaceae family until 1983 when the family was established. The genus are diverse geographically, and have a cosmopolitan distribution across the world. The etymology of Coniothyrium is derived from New Latin, from coni- (from conus) and thyr- (from Greek thyreos meaning oblong shield, from thyra meaning door) and -ium (ending for a genus). Coniothyrium palmarum is the type species of the genus Coniothyrium. It is characterised by ostiolate pycnidial (asexual fruiting body) conidiomata, annellidic conidiogenous cells, the absence of conidiophores, and brown, thick-walled, 0- or 1-septate, verrucose conidia. Coniothyrium is similar morphologically to some species in the genus Microsphaeropsis. However, Microsphaeropsis is characterised by the production of phialidic conidiogenous cells with periclinal thi......read more on Wikipedia.