Perennial stromata arise singly or in clusters from buried hardwood; form dark brown-to-black, laterally compressed fan- or spatula-shaped clubs 3 – 8 cm tall and 2 – 5 cm wide, often grooved or radially wrinkled. Surface carbonaceous, minutely roughened by ostioles of embedded perithecia; interior white, woody. Stipe short, tapered, coated with pale mycelial mat and wood fibres. Asci cylindrical, eight-spored; ascospores dark brown, elliptic-fusiform, 12–15 × 4–5 µm with straight germ slit. No distinct odour. Mature stromata persist several years, producing new asci in successive wet seasons.
Height 3–8 cm; width 2–5 cm; thickness 0.3–0.7 cm
5–20 g per stroma
Up to 3 yr; capable of multiple sporing cycles
Do not apply
Do not apply
≈ 4–6 months after colonising wood
Main ascospore discharge late wet season (Sept – Nov); secondary discharges after heavy rains
Perennial stromata arise singly or in clusters from buried hardwood; form dark brown-to-black, laterally compressed fan- or spatula-shaped clubs 3 – 8 cm tall and 2 – 5 cm wide, often grooved or radially wrinkled. Surface carbonaceous, minutely roughened by ostioles of embedded perithecia; interior white, woody. Stipe short, tapered, coated with pale mycelial mat and wood fibres. Asci cylindrical, eight-spored; ascospores dark brown, elliptic-fusiform, 12–15 × 4–5 µm with straight germ slit. No distinct odour. Mature stromata persist several years, producing new asci in successive wet seasons.
Saprotrophic on decaying hardwood logs, stumps and buried roots in humid lowland–premontane rain forest (0 – 1 200 m); favours well-rotted wood in shaded leaf-litter and trail edges on both slopes
| Late-stage white-rot decomposer; secretes cellulases and xylanases that leave lignin-rich residue, accelerating wood turnover. |
Fruiting Dynamics
Forms synnematal fans that arise from communal mycelial mat; adjacent stromata often merge laterally.
Continuous perithecial renewal allows prolonged spore dissemination across wet seasons.
Produces antifungal secondary metabolite flabelliformin active against phytopathogens.
Bribri artisans grind dried stromata into brown pigment for ceremonial gourd painting.
DNA barcoding reveals Costa-Rican isolates cluster with Amazonian clade A, supporting Neotropical endemic lineage.
Host wood often fluoresces under UV after colonisation due to xylindein-like pigments.
Acts as “nurse log conditioner,” creating cavities later used by palm seedlings (Iriartea deltoidea).
Native
Decreasing
