Dendrosphaera
Genus of fungi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dendrosphaera is a monotypic genus of fungus in the family Aspergillaceae. It contains the single species Dendrosphaera eberhardtii.[1][2]
| Dendrosphaera | |
|---|---|
| |
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Eurotiomycetes |
| Order: | Eurotiales |
| Family: | Aspergillaceae |
| Genus: | Dendrosphaera Pat. (1907) |
| Species: | D. eberhardtii |
| Binomial name | |
| Dendrosphaera eberhardtii Pat. | |
Taxonomy
Dendrosphaera eberhardtii was described in 1907 by Narcisse Théophile Patouillard.[3]
Description
The fruiting body of D. eberhardtii is a stiff, brown, branching root like structure with a 10–15 cm long, 3-6mm thick stem terminating in multiple 2-6mm thick sporulating heads that start white before maturing to golden yellow.[3]
Spores: 8-10 μm. Globose with a large central droplet. They are smooth when still attached to the asci before developing encrustations that give them an echinulated appearance.[3]
Etymology
The genus name Dendrosphaera derives from the Latin dendroides or Greek dendroid meaning tree or tree-like[4][5] and the Latin sphaericus meaning sphere shaped.[4]
The specific epithet eberhardtii is named for Mr. Eberhardt who collected the specimens and created notes and illustrations of them in the field.[3]
Habitat and distribution
Similar species
Trichocoma paradoxa is similar but produces only one 'brush' like feature whilst Dendrosphaera eberhardtii has several.[6]