Colonies extensive, on fallen corticated trunks, characterised by crowded or less often solitary, black, cylindrical pycnidia generally arising from cracks in the bark. Mycelium immersed, composed of septate, subhyaline to brown hyphae, 2.7-9 µm wide, forming immersed pseudostromata with brown cells frequently filling the lumen of host cells and up to 27 µm wide. Pycnidia are cylindrical, unilocular, and borne in linear or irregular groups of up to 30 on immersed pseudostromata. They are more or less parallel or divergent, straight or slightly curved, dark brown to black, usually simple, sometimes once branched or more rarely up to five pycnidia may arise from a common stalk. They are 1.3-4.5 mm long, 270-350 µm wide, bearing conspicuous, transverse circular ribs. The basal half to two-thirds or more of the fructifications is sterile: the upper part is fertile but the entire fructification is so uniformly cylindrical and deeply pigmented that the extent of the fertile zone cannot be determined except by examining sections. At maturity pycnidia possess a terminal circular ostiole. The sterile cylindrical base of the fructification is composed of a pseudoparenchyma of brown to dark brown cells. The cells of the outer layer are more or less isodiametric and up to 20 µm wide ("textura angularis ") and these merge with an inner column of linearly arranged cells which are longer than they are broad ("textura prismatica"). The lateral wall around the pycnidial centrum is up to 150 µm wide below and tapers to 40-55 µm wide toward the ostiole: it is composed of 3 layers. The outer layer is a "textura angularis" similar to and continuous with the outer layer of the sterile base: this outer layer merges gradually with a central layer of "textura prismatica" of brown cylindrical cells up to 36 µm long and up to 5 µm wide. The innermost layer is composed of loose, hyaline, longi-tudinally arranged hyphae, 1.3µm wide (" textura porrecta"), which extend from the base of the pycnidial centrum to the inner margin of the ostiole. Within this composite wall is the narrow obconical centrum which is finally up to 900 µm long in mature pycnidia. The centrum is composed of compact, basal, hyaline, conidiogenous hyphae, and upper basipetally maturing conidia. The conidiogenous hyphae at the base of the pycnidial centrum are continuous with the pig-mented "textura prismatica" of the sterile stalk-like base. They are hyaline, unbranched, deeply staining, at first 1.8-2.5 µm wide and composed of more or less oblong cells 5-10 µm long. These cells show progressive. increase in width and length toward the upper part of the pycnidium and become angularly ellipsoidal because of mutual pressure with cells of adjacent chains. These expanding cells are conidium initials and may reach a length of 45 µm and a width of 17 µm before they develop some pigmentation and a central septum, followed by two additional septa delimiting a small cell at each end. Septa may be slightly oblique in misshapen conidia. Further expansion and pigmentation of the conidia occur, so that in mature conidia the two central cells are very dark brown to almost black with the end cells slightly paler; a darker band of wall develops over the septa. Conidia are freed schizolytically from neighbouring conidia of the chain but they retain their catenate arrangement. The central cells are thick-walled (up to 2.5 µm) and the end cells somewhat thinner¬walled with a thin and paler terminal or slightly oblique area indicating their former point of attach¬ment in the chain. One to all of the four conidium cells may show one or two irregularly arranged un-pigmented spots (1.4-2.2 µm wide) in the wall. Coni¬dia are thrust out through the ostiole as a black, shining, straight, fragile, columnar cirrus up to 2.5 mm long; conidia in columns disperse readily in water. Conidia are (34-) 43-66 (-77) µm long and 19.8-28 µm wide.

Coloniae effusae. Mycelium immersum ex hyphis subhyalinis vel brunneis 2.7-9 µm lat. compositum. Pycnidia elongata 1.3-4.5 mm longa, 270-350 µm lat., atra, plerumque simplicia sed aliquando 2-5 in stipite singulari producta, transverse costata, solitaria vel plerumque ad 30 in pseudostromatibus aggregata. Stipes cylindricus solidus, intus "textura prismatica", extus "textura angularis". Pars fertilis cylindrica centro fertili anguste obconico vel ellipsoideo: paries 3-stratosus, extus "textura angularis" brunnea, medie "textura prismatica" brunnea, intus "textura porrecta" hyalina. Hyphae conidiogenae ad basem ex cellulis 1.8-2.5 µm lat., 5-10 µm long. dein apicem versus spissescentibus et ex arthroconidiis meristematicis compositae. Arthroconidia meristematica angulariter ellipsoidea aliquando anguste rhomboidea, 3-septata, crasso-tunicata (ad 2.5 µm), cellulis 2 centralibus majoribus atrobrunneis, cellulis 2 polaribus parvulis brunneisque, (cum taenia atra ad septas), utrinque cicatrice plana tenui-tunicata. Cellulae unus ad quatuor poris 1 vel 2 hyalinis minutis praeditae. Conidia (34-) 43-66 (-77) x 19.8-28 µm, in cirro cylindrico atronitenti fragile ad 2.5 mm long. exeunt.

Typus: in truncis emortuis corticatis Weinmanniae racemosae, "Westland, Lower Poerua River, Harihari", 5.IV.1963, S. J. Hughes, PDD 36101 (DAOM 113643).

Longitudinal sections through a few young fructifications of Cirrosporium novae-zelandiae show a lysigenous cavity formed within the "textura angularis" about 4-7 layers of cells below the apex and above the core of "textura prismatica" which occupies the centre of the young fructification (Fig. 4). The cavity may be spherical to hemispherical or it may extend around the apex of the "textura prismatica", so that a dome-shaped cavity is formed. No intermediate stages were encountered, in the sections available, between the formation of a cavity and the production of conidia but it is likely that conidiogenous hyphae arise from the "textura prismatica". Mature pycnidia have a lateral wall up to 900 µm long; accordingly it is assumed that the wall increases considerably in length and this results in a - partial containment of the elongating cirrus of basipetally maturing conidia. Further evidence ofgrowth of the pycnidium wall is seen in longitudinal sections where the cells of the wall appear to radiate obliquely outwards and upwards from the inner "textura prismatica" through the "textura angularly" to the outside. It is highly probable that enlongation of the pycnidium wall occurs in the tissue surrounding the ostiole. The presence of circumferential ribs on the outer wall of the pycnidium is undoubtedly the result of this apical growth. Apical extension of the pycnidium wall is not uncommon: in pycnidia (ceratopycnidia) of some Capnodiaceae (sensu stricto), for instance, the extension may produce a narrow cylindrical neck, one that tapers from a broad base, or one that is cylindrical and as wide as the venter itself.