Spegazzinia deightonii (S. Hughes) Subram.

Spegazzinia deightonii (S. Hughes) Subram. , J. Indian Bot. Soc. 35: 78 (1956)

Fig. 12 View Figure 12

Description.

Saprobic on a dead leaf of Arundo pliniana ( Poaceae ). Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Sporodochia 1–2 mm diam., dark, black, dense, powdery, velvety. Conidiophores give rise to two types of conidia referred to here as α and β. Conidiophores of α conidia up to 75–90 × 1–2 μm ( x ̄ = 80 × 1.6 μm, n = 20) long, erect or flexuous, narrow, verruculose, unbranched, base light brown, upper part dark brown. Conidiogenous cell development basauxic, forming a single, terminal holoblastic conidium at the apex of the conidiophore. Conidial development holoblastic. Conidia two types: α conidia 15–27 × 16–24 μm ( x ̄ = 25 × 21 μm, n = 25), stellate, solitary, globose to variously shaped, with spines 4–6 μm long, 4–8 - celled, deeply constricted at the septa. β conidia 16–22 × 10–15 μm ( x ̄ = 19 × 14 μm, n = 25), disc-shaped, initially hyaline, light brown to dark brown at maturity, 8 - celled, flat from both sides, frequently with attached conidiogenous cells when splitting from the conidiophores.

Known hosts.

Arundo pliniana , Areca catechu , Cocos nucifera , Hedychium coronarium , Musa sp. , and Panicum maximum ( Matsushima 1980; Lu et al. 2000; Tianyu 2009; Samarakoon et al. 2020; Tennakoon et al. 2022; Farr and Rossman 2025; this study).

Known distribution.

China and Thailand ( Matsushima 1980; Lu et al. 2000; Tianyu 2009; Samarakoon et al. 2020; Tennakoon et al. 2022; Farr and Rossman 2025; this study).

Material examined.

China • Guangdong Province, Shenzhen , on dead leaf of Arundo pliniana ( Poaceae ), 21 December 2024, D. S. Tennakoon, DROD 009 ( SZU 25-023 , new host record); living culture, MBSZU 25-031 .

Notes.

The morphological characteristics of our collection ( SZU 25-023 ) resemble those of Spegazzinia deightonii , as it has 8 - celled, disk-shaped, dark brown, spiny conidia ( Tanaka et al. 2015; Samarakoon et al. 2020; Tennakoon et al. 2022). Phylogeny also indicates that our collection clusters with other S. deightonii isolates in a well-supported clade (92 % ML, 0.95 BYPP), and makes a close phylogenetic relationship with the isolate MFLUCC 20-0002 (96 % ML, 0.96 BYPP). Therefore, we identify our collection as an isolate of S. deightonii from a dead leaf of Arundo pliniana in China.