Dictyosporium
Dictyosporium is the type genus of fungi belonging to the family Dictyosporiaceae. By an estimate in 2018 it is formed by 45 species. The species in this genus are saprobic on dead or decaying wood and can be found on dead wood and plant litter in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. The genus can be found worldwide, it has a cosmopolitan distribution. The type species is "Dictyosporium elegans", which was described by August Carl Joseph Corda in Witenweber (1836). Family taxonomy. Dictyosporiaceae. The family of this genus, Dictyosporiaceae, was created to accommodate a holomorphic group of Dothideomycetes, including 12  genera that are saprobes on decaying wood and plant debris in terrestrial and freshwater habitats. The latest genera to be included were "Dictyocheirospora", "Dictyopalmispora", "Jalapriya" and "Vikalpa". Dictyosporium. The genus was analysed molecularly and was previously situated phylogenetically inside the Massariinaceae family. But in 2015 Tanka et al. changed its position and situated the genus inside the current family Dictyosporiaceae. Dictyosporium is a paraphyletic genus and although since 2015 the family is correctly identified, the taxonomy of the genus is still unresolved and the number of species keeps changing. Number of Species. In 2012 Withon et al. added 11 species  while Boonmee et al. removed 10 species from the genus. The next change was in 2013 when three new species were identified: "D. aquaticum", "D. meiosporum" and "D. thailandicum". In 2015 "D. araucariae", "D. indicum", "D. hydei", "D. olivacesporum", "D. pseudomusae", "D. sexualis", "D. splendidum" and "D. wuyiense" were newly identified. By 2017 the genus had 43 species while in 2018 two new species were identified ("D. tubulatum" and "D. tratense)" and the genus was formed by 45 species. Morphological characteristics. The teleomorph is characterized by a dark brown, subglobose, superficial ascocarp. It has bitunicate, cylindrical asci. The ascospores are  fusiform, hyaline, uniseptate with or without sheath. The anamorph is characterized for producing sporodochial or effuse conidiomata. They produce branched colonies, cheroid, from pale brown to yellowish brown, smooth conidia with 4-7 parallel rows of cells. The conidiophores are inconspicuous. Dictyosporium is a heterogenous paraphyletic assemblage of species and the characters of some can differ from the type species. The principal characteristic used to differentiate between species is the conidia size and the number of row cells. The diagnostic features that separates Distyosporium from "Massarinaceae" are their conidia features. Species. , Species Fungorum accepts 60 species of "Dictyosporium".