Reexamination of taxa in Leptosphaeria originally described on host species in Ranunculaceae, Papaveraceae, and Magnoliaceae

Abstract

Type and authentic herbarium specimens of 16 taxa of Leptosphaeria found on hosts in Ranunculaceae, Magnoliaceae, and Papaveraceae were reexamined and reevaluated for their taxonomic position. The original taxonomic placements of Leptosphaeria haematites, Leptosphaeria papaveris, Leptosphaeria vitalbae, and Leptosphaeria weberi are confirmed. Leptosphaeria clematicola is described as a new species. Five species of Leptosphaeria are transferred to the other genera: Leptosphaeria agminalis, Leptosphaeria aucta, Leptosphaeria ranunculi, Leptosphaeria vitalbae Niessl, and Leptosphaeria stictoides are to Dothideopsella, Nodulosphaeria, Diademosa, Massariosphaeria, and Dothiora, respectively. Leptosphaeria andrijevicensis and Leptosphaeria incruenta are treated as synonymies of Phaeosphaeria minuscula and Broomella vitalbae, respectively. The previous synonymies of L. agminalis with Leptosphaeria rimalis, Leptosphaeria lasiosphaerioides with Nodulosphaeria modesta, Leptosphaeria bocconiae with Trichometasphaeria gloeospora, and Leptosphaeria pleosporoides with L. vitalbae are supported. Shared characters of the five species of Leptosphaeria mentioned above are presence of scleroplectenchyma in the ascomal wall, immersed to erumpent ascomata, oblong to cylindrical asci, and three to five septate, yellow-brown ascospores.Key words: Ascomycetes, Pleosporales, morphology, systematics.