NITSCHKIA BROOMEANA - ASCOfrance

IMI Descriptions of NITSCHKIA BROOMEANA 

Fungi and Bacteria 

No. 1739 

A. Habit view of cluster of ascomata emerging from bark (bar = 1 mm). B. Detail of four ascomata; note spines (bar 

= 0·5 mm). C. Ascomatal wall in vertical section, showing darker outer layer (below, with ‘Munk pores’) and 

lighter inner layer (above). D. Upper parts of two asci, showing large number of ascospores in each, arranged in 

‘herringbone’ pattern (bar = 10 µm). E. Ascospores. [C–E all at same magnification.] 

Nitschkia broomeana (Berk.) Nannf., Svensk Botanisk Tiddskrift 69(1): 60 (1975) [as ‘broomeiana’]. 

Sphaeria broomeana Berk., Hooker’s Journal of Botany 6: 231 (1854) [as ‘broomeiana’]. 

Coronophora broomeana (Berk.) Sacc., Sylloge Fungorum 1: 106 (1882) [as ‘broomeiana’]. 

Fracchiaea broomeana (Berk.) Petch, Annals of the Royal Botanic Garden, Peradeniya 6(4): 333 (1917). 

Sphaeria rasa Berk., in J.D. HOOKER, Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and 

Terror, in the years 1839–1843 II. Flora Novae-Zealandia 2(Flowerless Plants, Part 8): 205 (1855). 

Fracchiaea rasa (Berk.) Sacc., Sylloge Fungorum 1: 95 (1812). 

Sphaeria subcongregata Berk. & M.A. Curtis, in H.W. RAVENEL, Fungi Caroliniani Exsiccati 4: no. 57 

(1855) [nom. nud.]. 

Fracchiaea subcongregata (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Ellis & Everh., North American Pyrenomycetes: 244 

(1892).

Fracchiaea heterogena Sacc., Atti dell’Accademia Scientifica Veneto-Trentino Istriana 2(2): 115 (1873) 

[see also p. 163]. 

Echusias vitis Hazsl., Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 23: 367 (1873). 

Fracchiaea vitis (Hazsl.) Höhn., Annales Mycologici 17(2–6): 131 (1920). 

Cucurbitaria brevibarbata Berk. & M.A. Curtis, in BERKELEY, Grevillea 4(no. 30): 47 (1875). 

Fracchiaea brevibarbata (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Sacc., Sylloge Fungorum 1: 94 (1882). 

Sphaeria subconnata Berk. & M.A. Curtis, in BERKELEY, Grevillea 4(no. 32): 141 (1876) [nom. illegit., 

ICBN Art. 53.1, non Schwein., 1832]. 

Coelosphaeria subconnata (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Sacc., Sylloge Fungorum 1: 93 (1882). 

Fracchiaea subconnata (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Cooke, Grevillea 15(no. 75): 83 (1887). 

Nitschkia subconnata (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) O. Kuntze, Revisio Generum Plantarum 3(2): 501 (1898). 

Gibbera moricarpa Cooke, Grevillea 7(no. 42): 51 (1878). 

Fracchiaea moricarpa (Cooke) Sacc., Sylloge Fungorum 1: 94 (1882). 

Fracchiaea cucurbitarioides Speg., Annales de la Sociedad Científica Argentina 10(1): 16 (1880). 

Sphaeria subconvexa Berk. & Ravenel, in M.C. COOKE, Grevillea 15(no. 75): 83 (1887) [nom. nud.]. 

Fracchiaea americana Berl., Fungi Moricolae 5: 1, fig. V, no. 1, tab. 15, figs 1–6 (1888). 

Fracchiaea glomerata Pat., Journal de Botanique 3(10): 168 (1889). 

Nitschkia paurida Berk. & M.A. Curtis, in M.C. COOKE, Grevillea 20(no. 96): 107 (1892). 

Fracchiaea eucalyptina Berl., Icones Fungorum 3: 27, tab. 35, fig. 1 (1900). 

Fracchiaea cucurbitarioides f. eucalyptina (Berl.) Speg., Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural 

de Buenos Aires Ser. 3, 19(12): 333 (1909). 

Bertiella polyspora Kirschst., Abhandlungen des Botanisches Vereins der Provinz Brandenburg 48: 51 

(1906) [fide ERIKSSON & YUE, 1986]. 

Kirschsteinia polyspora (Kirschst.) Syd., Annales Mycologici 4(5): 455 (1906). 

Fracchiaea cucurbitarioides f. pini-insignis Speg., Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de 

Buenos Aires Ser. 3, 19(12): 333 (1909). 

Fracchiaea cucurbitarioides f. quercus-sessiliflorae Speg., Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural 

de Buenos Aires Ser. 3, 19(12): 334 (1909). 

Fracchiaea depressa Petch, Annals of the Royal Botanic Garden Peradeniya 6(3): 221 (1917) [fide 

NANNFELDT, 1975]. 

Colonies as single ascomata or clusters of 2–30 ascomata emerging from cracks in bark or other woody 

material, the bark then frequently becoming detached so that the ascomata appear to be superficial. 

Ascomata ± globose, only rarely collapsing into a cup-shape, 350–650 µm, often ornamented with pointed 

spines up to 25 µm (the spines themselves being sometimes forked and often with secondary barb-like 

ornamentation), without an ostiole, but with a short dome-like special opening apparatus (sometimes called 

a ‘Quellkörper’); outer wall composed of dark- and thick-walled cells forming a well-defined textura 

angularis, individual cells often with small but conspicuous pores which look like minute bullet holes 

(sometimes called ‘Munk pores’); inner wall composed of paler, thinner-walled, flatter cells also forming a 

textura angularis. Asci arising from the base of the ascoma, oblong to obovate, thin-walled, with only one 

wall layer visible with the light microscope, up to 125 × 25 µm, with a short stalk, containing more than 200 

ascospores usually characteristically arranged in a ‘herringbone’ pattern. Ascospores colourless, 

subcylindrical, slightly curved, smooth, 8–11 × 1·5–2 µm, with one droplet in each end, eventually with a 

faint septum. Anamorph not observed. [Description adapted from NANNFELDT (1975).] 

DISEASE: None reported. 

HOSTS: Plantae: Acer negundo, A. pseudoplatanus (branch), Acer sp.; Aesculus sp.; Ailanthus altissima; Alnus 

sp.; Bombax sp. (bark); Butea monosperma (twig); Buxus sp.; Cercis canadensis; Cinchona sp.; Cocos 

nucifera; Crataegus sp. (twig); Delonix regia (twig); Dracontomelon sinense; Eucalyptus globulus (bark, 

branch), E. lanceolatus (bark), E. viminalis, Eucalyptus sp. (bark); Euphorbia sp. (stem); Ficus religiosa 

(twig), Ficus sp. (canker); Fraxinus sp.; Gleditsia triacanthos; Holoptelea integrifolia (twig); Ilex sp.; 

Lindera benzoin; Liquidambar styraciflua, Liquidambar sp.; Lonicera sp.; Magnolia virginiana;

Mangifera indica; Mimusops hexandra (stem); Morus rubra, Morus sp.; Myrica sp.; Nyssa sylvatica; 

Oogeinia oogeinensis (stem); Persea americana; Pinus strobus, P. sylvestris (cone), P. taeda, Pinus sp.; 

Pongamia glabra; Prunus sp.; Pyrus communis, P. malus; Quercus sp.; Rhamnus sp.; Robinia 

pseudacacia; Rubus sp.; Salix koreensis, S. nigra; Sambucus canadensis; Sassafras sp.; Schizolobium sp.; 

Shorea robusta (stem, wood); Sophora japonica; Tectona grandis (root); Tilia heterophylla var. 

michauxii; Ulmus alata; Viburnum grandiflorum, Viburnum sp.; Weinmannia sp. Other associated 

organisms: Fungi: Botryosphaeria ribis. 

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: AFRICA: Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe. NORTH 

AMERICA: USA (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, 

Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia). CENTRAL AMERICA: Guatemala, Nicaragua, 

Panama. SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela. ASIA: China (Beijing, Fujian, Hebei, Hunan, 

Jiangsu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zheijang), India (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, 

Maharashtra), Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan. AUSTRALASIA: Australia (South Australia), 

New Zealand. EUROPE: former Czechoslovakia, France, Great Britain, Italy, former Yugoslavia. 

INFRASPECIFIC VARIATION: The large number of synonyms, many of which are subspecific in rank, 

suggests that there may be some infraspecific variation in this fungus. Slightly larger ascospores have 

been observed, for example, in collections from northwest Scotland, than in collections from lower 

latitudes. 

TRANSMISSION: Ascomata of this species open by irregular apical cracks, but the mode of ascospore release 

and transmission is not known. 

NOTES: Diagnostic features. Clusters of ascomata ornamented with short spines emerging from bark or 

superficial on woody substrata; asci each containing more than 200 ascospores usually arranged in a 

characteristic ‘herringbone’ pattern. 

NANNFELDT (1975) regarded this species as ‘widespread in most warmer countries’ but thought that in 

Europe records ‘from more northern areas are erroneous’. While this may be generally true, several 

specimens have been collected on fallen cones of Pinus sylvestris in native woodland in Scotland, but 

only in the northwest, where the mild climate and infrequent frosts as a result of the Gulf Stream may be 

a significant factor. There, the fungus is never abundant and only very occasionally encountered, but 

appears to be native. 

Interactions. None reported. Probably saprobic or, like other members of this genus, parasitic on other 

fungi. 

Conservation status. Records exist from at least 1854 to November 2001, and the species has been 

observed from January–June and August–December. In addition to cited literature and internet sources, 

this description sheet is based on 19 items in the IMI dried reference collection, 18 records in the 

author’s computerized database (11 of which refer to IMI items), 4 records in the Fungal Records 

Database for the British Isles (http://194.203.77.76/fieldmycology/), 62 records in the USDA database 

(http://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/index.cfm) and 4 specimens in the K fungal reference collection. 

This fungus is very widely distributed and rather frequently encountered. The absence of recent records 

may be more a reflexion on the decline of field mycologists than an indication of a change in population 

status. The species is associated with many different and unrelated plants, many undoubtedly not at risk, 

although they may not be the nutrient source if N. broomeana is indeed parasitic on other fungi. There are 

no obvious threats. Using IUCN criteria [IUCN SPECIES SURVIVAL COMMISSION (2006). 2006 IUCN Red 

List of Threatened Species. . Downloaded on 15 May 2006], the species is 

assessed globally as least concern. 

LITERATURE: CHEN, C.Y. & HSIEH, W.H. New records of ascomycete for Taiwan. Transactions of the 

Mycological Society of the Republic of China 9(1): 1–20 (1994). Chen, M.M. Forest Fungi 

Phytogeography Forest Fungi Phytogeography of China, North America, and Siberia and International

Quarantine of Tree Pathogens (Sacramento, CA: Pacific Mushroom Research and Education Center): 

469 pp. (2002). COOKE, W.B. The 1979 Oklahoma foray. Mycologia 75: 752–755 (1983). DOIDGE, E.M. 

The South African Fungi and Lichens to the End of 1945. Bothalia 5: 1094 pp. (1950). ERIKSSON, O. & 

YUE, J.Z. Bertiella (Sacc.) Sacc. & Sydow, a synonym of Massarina Sacc. Mycotaxon 27: 247–253 

(1986). FITZPATRICK, H.M. The genus Fracchiaea. Mycologia 16(3): 101–114 (1924). HANLIN, R.T. A 

Revision of the Ascomycetes of Georgia. Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station Mimeographed 

Series N.S. 175: 65 pp. (1963). HAWARE, M.P., SHARMA, N.D. & JOSHI, L.K. Fungi on Eucalyptus 

globulus from Jabalpur. JNKVV Research Journal 10(1): 96–97 (1976). HSIEH, W.H., CHEN, C.Y. & 

WANG, C.L. [Taiwan Ascomycetes. Pyrenomycetes and Loculoascomycetes] (Taichung, Taiwan: China 

Graphics): 244 pp. (2000). MILLER, J.H. The ascomycetes of Georgia. Plant Disease Reporter 

Supplement 131: 31–93 (1941). NAITO, T. The mycoflora of southern Kiusiu IV. Scientific Reports, 

Kagoshima University 1: 71–81 (1952). NANNFELDT, J.A. Stray studies in the Coronophorales 

(Pyrenomycetes) 4–8. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 69(3): 289–335 (1975). RAJAK, R.C. & PANDEY, A.K. 

Fungi from Jabalpur – II. Indian Journal of Mycology and Plant Pathology 15: 186–194 (1985). 

ROMERO, A.I. Contribución al estudio de los hongos xilófilos de la Argentina. II. Ascomycotina en 

Eucalyptus viminalis (Myrtaceae). Darwiniana 28: 251–270 (1987). TENG, S.C. Fungi of China (Ithaca, 

NY: Mycotaxon Ltd): xiv, 586 pp. (1996). VIÉGAS, A.P. Alguns Fungos do Brasil. II. Ascomicetos. 

Bragantia 4(1–6): 394 (1944). 

[Number in brackets, e.g. (62, 5055), refer to abstracts in Review of Plant Pathology] 

D.W. Minter 

CABI Europe, Egham, UK 

Issued by CABI Europe – UK, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, UK 

© CAB International, 2007. All rights reserved. 

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by 

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