Lophiostoma

The family Lophiostomataceae was introduced by Nitschke (1869),^[9] with Lophiostoma macrostomum (Tode) Ces. & De Not. as the type species.^[10]

The slit-like ostiolar neck and peridium of the ascomata are regarded as variable structures within a single specimen. Chesters & Bell (1970)^[4] adapted ascospore features including color and longitudinal or transverse septation for generic circumscription. However, Holm & Holm (1988)^[3] considered ascospore septation as an unimportant characteristic at the generic level, but useful at the species level, and therefore used broad generic concepts for Lophiostomataceae. These broad generic concepts of Lophiostoma have been used by several authors (Barr 1987,^[5] 1992,^[6] Yuan & Zhao 1994,^[11] Checa 1997,^[12] Kirk et al. 2008,^[13] Mugambi & Huhndorf 2009,^[14]).^[15]

Lophiostoma possesses typical characters of Lophiostomataceae. Lophiostoma is morphologically a well-studied genus (Chesters and Bell, 1970;^[4] Holm and Holm, 1988;^[3] Barr, 1990;^[16] Yuan and Zhao, 1994^[11]), and currently it comprises about 30 species (Tanaka and Harada, 2003^[17]). The crest-like apex is not considered to be a stable character and varies considerably even in the same specimen (Chesters and Bell, 1970;^[4] Holm and Holm, 1988^[3]).^[18]

Previously anything with a lophiostomataceous, crest-like ostiole was usually placed in Lophiostoma without considering of other characters (Tanaka and Harada 2003,^[17] Tanaka and Hosoya 2008,^[19] Hirayama et al. 2014,^[20] Liu et al. 2015,^[21]).^[10] 

There are still considerable confusion surrounding the genera Lophiostoma, Lophiotrema, Platystomum and Massarina.

Lophiostoma was by Zhang et al. (2009),^[18] found to be polyphyletic and comprising two groups: Lophiostoma I and Lophiostoma II. This study also indicated that ascospore and apical morphology are morphological characters that have phylogenetic significance, though they are not fully reliable for generic level classification. Furthermore, a compressed apex has more phylogenetic significance than a crest-like apex.^[18]

A recent generic reevaluation of Lophiostomataceae (Thambugala et al. 2015,^[10]) segregated Lophiostoma s. lat. into 16 genera according to the multi-locus phylogenies using small subunit nrDNA (18S; SSU), large subunit nrDNA (28S; LSU), and translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1).^[15]

The family Lophiostomataceae was thought to be heterogeneous or paraphyletic, but recent phylogenetic analyses support the monophyletic status of Lophiostomataceae sensu stricto (Mugambi and Huhndorf 2009;^[14] Zhang et al. 2012;^[22] Hyde et al. 2013;^[23] Wijayawardene et al. 2014,^[24]). In their multi-gene analysis, Schoch et al. (2006,^[25] 2009,^[26]) showed Lophiostomataceae to belong in Pleosporales.^[10]

Zhang et al. (2009)^[18] showed that Lophiostoma, Lophiotrema and Massarina formed well-supported subclades in Pleosporales.^[10]