''Rostraureum tropicale'' is a species of

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

from genus '' Rostraureum'' that is found in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Distribution and habitat

''Rostraureum tropicale'' is a

pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...

of ''

Terminalia ivorensis ''Terminalia ivorensis'' is a species of tree in the family Combretaceae, and is known by the common names of Ivory Coast almond, idigbo, black afara, framire and emeri. Description ''Terminalia ivorensis'' is found in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gh ...

'' and causes basal stem cankers on dying trees. The fungus is distributed in the lowland

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

. Hosts include ''

'' and ''

Terminalia superba ''Terminalia superba'', the superb terminalia, limba, afara (UK), korina (US), frake (Africa), African limba wood, or ofram (Ghana), is a large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa. It grows up to 60 m tall, with a ...

'' (both in family ''

Combretaceae The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, G ...

'' of the ''

Myrtales The Myrtales are an order of flowering plants in the malvid clade of the rosid group of dicotyledons. Well-known members of Myrtales include: myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, eucalyptus, crape myrtles, ...

'').

Morphology

Morphologically, ''Rostraureum tropicale'' has characteristics similar to those for ''

Cryphonectria ''Cryphonectria'' is a fungus, fungal genus in the order Diaporthales. The most well-known and well-studied species in the genus is ''Cryphonectria parasitica'', the species which causes chestnut blight. The genus was, for a time, considered syno ...

'', '' Endothia'' and '' Chrysoporthe'', but appears to be superficially closest to ''

Cryphonectria longirostris ''Cryphonectria'' is a fungal genus in the order Diaporthales. The most well-known and well-studied species in the genus is ''Cryphonectria parasitica'', the species which causes chestnut blight. The genus was, for a time, considered synonymous w ...

''. The fungus displays characteristics typical of diaporthalean fungi, with periphysate ostiolar canals with no

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the f ...

, and asci are unitunicate with refractive apical rings. Fruiting structures are orange to yellow, and

ascospores In fungi, an ascospore is the sexual spore formed inside an ascus—the sac-like cell that defines the division Ascomycota, the largest and most diverse division of fungi. After two parental nuclei fuse, the ascus undergoes meiosis (halving of ...

are one-

septate In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate. Examples Human anatomy * Interatrial se ...

and fusoid to

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...

. ''Rostraureum tropicale'' can be distinguished from '' Endothia'', ''

'' and '' Chrysoporthe'' by the observation that

perithecial necks An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascoc ...

are not embedded in well-developed stromatic tissue. Additionally, it can be distinguished from ''Chrysoporthe'' by the presence of orange perithecial necks instead of

fuscous {{Short pages monitor