Background and Aims:

The genus Daldinia, with 48 species worldwide, is characterized by perithecia immersed in globose to claviform stromata, which are cupper, violet, wine, brown to black coloured; releasing ochraceous, purple, greenish and gray pigments in KOH. It is characterized by cylindrical stipitate ascii with an apical amyloid pore, and ellipsoid, brown, smooth or ornamented ascospores. The asexual state was described in the genus Nodulisporium. It is now known that the group is mainly endophytic. The objective of the present study is to carry out a taxonomic revision of the genus Daldinia in Mexico, based on macro- and micromorphological characters and the observation of the spores with a SEM to identify the species.

Methods:

The specimens were studied, described and determined according to the traditional techniques in mycology. In addition, the spores were observed with a scanning electron microscope. The material is deposited in the fungus collection of the ENCB herbarium.

Key results:

Fourteen species of Daldinia were identified in Mexico, of which D. decipiens, D. cuprea, D. petriniae and D. rehmii are cited for the first time for the country. The species of this genus were mainly associated with the tropical dry forest. Daldinia childiae, D. eschscholtzii and D. vernicosa are the species with major distribution in the national territory.

Conclusions:

The genus Daldinia is well represented in Mexico, being one of the best studied of the family Hypoxylaceae. The group has a remarkable tropical distribution with more than 80% of the species located in tropical dry forest. It has a restricted distribution in temperate regions, as well as a greater specificity for the host, mainly Alnus and Quercus. The state of Oaxaca is the most species-rich entity.

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