Two New Lichenicolous Species of Hobsonia

The genus Hobsonia was first described by Massee (1891) for H. gigaspora, a species on bamboo from Venezuela in Berkeley's herbarium at Kew. The conidia arise from a gelatinous sporodochium, and consist of a helically coiled multicellular filament. Linder (1929) synonymized H. ackermannii Patouillard (1902) with H. gigaspora, and transferred Helicomyces mirabilis Peck into Hobsonia. Martin (1959) concluded, however, that the genus was monotypic; the correct name for the type and only species is H. mirabilis (Peck) Linder. This contribution reports on two undescribed lichenicolous fungi which are congeneric with collections of Hobsonia mirabilis we have examined [H. gigaspora, Venezuela, on Bambusa, Herb. Berk. 1879 (K) HOLOTYPE; Helicomyces mirabilis, on Zea mays, Dudley, Herb. M. C. Cooke 1885 (K), authentic specimen; Hobsonia ackermannii, Guadeloupe, on dead wood (FH) HOLOTYPE; H. mirabilis, Hawaii, on petiole of Brassia, 27 Oct. 1969, R. Goos H-369 (IMI 299481)]. No fungi with coiled conidia have previously been recognized growing on lichens.