Stigmochora mascarenica

Lesions not clearly differentiated, the leaf tissue surrounding stromata showing some signs of browning.

Stromata 600-1500 µm diam, weakly clustered and often merging, most frequently widely elliptical but often rather irregularly shaped in surface view, 3- to 7-loculate, amphigenous, shallowly domed with the individual ascomata prominent, reddish brown, the ascomata with black clypei 200-300 µm diam visible from the surface, the ostioles conspicuous, not papillate.

Anamorph: not known.

Teleomorph: Ascomata 300-400 µm diam, globose to oblate, with a well-developed clypeate upper wall composed of a thick outer layer of tanned leaf epidermal and palisade cells, the ascoma wall composed of strongly melanized textura globulosa with cells 3-5 µm diam, which extends competely around the ascomata. Periphyses well-developed, to 15 µm in length, merging with the paraphyses. Paraphyses to 6 µm diam, very thin-walled, gradually tapering, remotely septate, the basal cell often inflated, without a mucous coating. Asci 140-165 x 22-28 µm, cylindric-clavate, rather short-stalked, thin-walled at all stages, the apex obtuse to rounded, apical structures not clearly defined, 8-spored. Ascospores biseriately arranged, 24-27 (mean 25.3, sd 1.25, n=20) x 8-9.5 (mean 8.6, sd 0.45, n=20) µm, length/breadth ratio 2.6-3.3 (mean 2.9, sd 0.24, n=20), hyaline, smooth and fairly thin-walled, with one strongly constricted median septum, the upper cells ellipsoidal with obtuse ends, the lower cells conic-ellipsoidal with acute ends, surrounded by a conspicuous gelatinous sheath to 4 µm thick.

This species is most similar to Stigmochora natalensis but with brown rather than black stromata (primarily a host-related feature due to the different structure of the host phyllodes), more prominent ascomata, larger asci and wider ascospores that have granular contents. The tardy development of the ascospore septum constriction is shared with E. natalensis.