Stictis

---

title: "Stictis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ostropales", "lichen-genera", "ostropales-genera", "taxa-named-by-christiaan-hendrik-persoon", "taxa-described-in-1800"] description: "Genus of lichen-forming fungi" topic_path: "general/ostropales" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stictis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of lichen-forming fungi ::

| image = Stictis radiata (L.) Pers 419596.jpg | image_caption = Stictis radiata | taxon = Stictis | authority = Pers. (1800) | type_species = Stictis radiata | type_species_authority = (L.) Pers. (1800) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision =

Stictis is a genus of fungi in the family Stictidaceae. Most species are saprotrophic decomposers that inhabit dead wood, where they form small, flask-shaped fruiting bodies that remain largely embedded within their substrate and open through tiny pores. The genus is characterised by its distinctive white, frost-like rim that surrounds the fruiting bodies and thread-like ascospores divided by multiple cross-walls. Modern molecular phylogenetics studies suggest that the current broad concept of Stictis will likely be split into several separate genera as the group undergoes taxonomic revision.

Taxonomy

The genus Stictis was circumscribed in 1800 by the mycologist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon. In his original description, Persoon characterised the genus as having receptacles that were subcupuliform (somewhat cup-shaped) or obliterated and immersed in wood. He established two species: S. radiata, described as immersed with a prominent white opening that was either entire or split in a radiating fashion, resembling certain Lycoperdon and Sphaerobolus species and characterised by a white, scalloped with brownish margin; and S. pallida, distinguished by its pustule-like form with a pale opening that gaped elliptically. Persoon noted that these simple fungi consisted only of a fructifying disc enclosed in wood, with form and substance resembling Peziza species, though lacking a distinctly prominent margin—instead, the wood formed a nest-like structure with a shining, round opening that sometimes displayed the elliptical gaping characteristic of Hysterium species. This circumscription established Stictis as a genus of wood-inhabiting fungi with distinctive cup-shaped or slit-like fruiting bodies that remain largely embedded within their substrate.

Later work has shown that Persoon's broad concept of Stictis will probably not survive modern scrutiny. Molecular and detailed morphological studies have demonstrated that many of the once used to separate genera in the Stictidaceae—particularly the presence or absence of tiny filaments () lining the fruiting body opening—vary within Stictis itself and therefore provide little guidance for drawing generic boundaries. Because the genus is large, taxonomically neglected, and most species are short-lived saprobes in the tropics, recent authors predict that the present, very broad concept of Stictis will eventually be broken up, as several independent lineages now grouped under the name are likely to be recognised as separate genera during a thorough revision of the family.

Description

Most Stictis species are wholly saprotrophic and form no visible thallus; where a thallus is present it appears as a thin, whitish crust associated with scattered coccoid algae. The sexual fruiting bodies develop as flask- to lens-shaped apothecia that begin immersed in the substrate. They open through a minute pore and may later push up or split the surface, producing margins that range from smooth to ragged. A hallmark of the genus is the prominent, white, frost-like () rim that surrounds many mature apothecia. The exposed remains moderately to deeply sunken and can be white, flesh-coloured, yellow-brown or nearly black; some species also carry a light dusting of pruina.

The apothecial wall () is typically three-layered and built from interwoven, narrow hyphae; it may include a false formed from compressed host tissue invaded by fungal hyphae. In a few species this tissue becomes gelatinous when moist. Just beneath the pore lies a crystalline layer from which filamentous arise; these hair-like elements may be simple or sparsely branched. The hymenium itself is packed with numerous thread-like paraphyses that can branch or swell at the tips and are often embedded in an iodine-positive (I⁺ blue) gel matrix.

Asci are cylindrical, functionally and contain four or eight ascospores. They possess a conspicuous, non-refractive apical cap pierced by an iodine-negative pore. The spores are typically long-cylindrical to thread-like, colourless, and divided by many transverse septa; some species develop a faint gelatinous sheath around each spore. No asexual fruit bodies are known, and thin-layer chromatography has yet to reveal any distinctive secondary metabolites in the genus.

Species

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Stictis_cordylines_1316753.jpg" caption="''Stictis cordylines''"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Conotrema_urceolatum-3.jpg" caption="''Stictis urceolatum''"] ::

, Species Fungorum accepts 44 species of Stictis:

• Stictis anhuiensis – China
• Stictis anomianthi
• Stictis arundinacea
• Stictis asteliae
• Stictis brunnescens
• Stictis carnea
• Stictis chrysopsis
• Stictis clavata
• Stictis collospermi
• Stictis confusa
• Stictis cordylines
• Stictis dealbata
• Stictis dicksoniae
• Stictis dumontii
• Stictis ecclesiensis
• Stictis elevata
• Stictis elongatispora
• Stictis friabilis
• Stictis fuscella
• Stictis graminicola
• Stictis graminum
• Stictis hawaiensis
• Stictis himalayana
• Stictis immersa
• Stictis inconstans
• Stictis laciniata
• Stictis lata
• Stictis leucospermi
• Stictis mollis
• Stictis pachyspora
• Stictis palniensis
• Stictis paucula
• Stictis populorum
• Stictis prominens
• Stictis radiata
• Stictis serenoae
• Stictis serpentaria
• Stictis stellata
• Stictis subbrachyspora
• Stictis subiculata
• Stictis tortilis
• Stictis trinervia
• Stictis urceolata
• Stictis virginea

References

References

1. (2024). "Revisions of British and Irish Lichens".
2. Cash, E.K.. (1938). "New records of Hawaiian Discomycetes". Mycologia.
3. "''Stictis''".
4. (1894). "New species of fungi from various localities". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
5. Johnston, P.R.. (1983). "''Stictis'' and its anamorphs in New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Botany.
6. (2024). "Historical cultures provide insights into the taxonomy of ''Stictis'' sensu lato". Fungal Systematics and Evolution.
7. (2016). "A new ''Stictis'' species from China based on morphological and molecular data". Phytotaxa.
8. Persoon, C.H.. (1800). "Observationes mycologicae". Peter Philip Wolf.
9. (1941). "Contributions to the mycoflora of Bermuda – II". Mycologia.
10. (2001). "Foliar and stem fungal pathogens of Proteaceae in Hawaii". Mycotaxon.
11. (2006). "''Stictis'' s. lat. (Ostropales, Ascomycota) in northern Scandinavia, with a key and notes on morphological variation in relation to lifestyle". Mycological Research.
12. (2022). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa – 2021". Mycosphere.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::