NEW AND INTERESTING AERO-AQUATIC MITOSPORIC FUNGI FROM ITALY

Spirosphaera lignicola sp. nov., an aero-aquatic mitosporic fungus fou nd on a submerged unidentified decaying twig in a stream in woodland i n Italy, is described and illustrated. It is characterized by developi ng more than one lateral branch on the parent filament, coiling and in tertwining in different planes, then branching again in the same way, resulting in a tightly interwoven globose conidial propagule and also by its conidial filament which is knobbly. Two additional aero-aquatic species Candelabrum brocchiatum and Helicodendron luteo-album are rep orted for the first time in Italy.