New Zealand, Auckland, on Cordyline australis, coll. J.M. Dingley 6653, Mar. 1966 (PDD 30206; ICMP 5285); Taranaki, New Plymouth, Duncan and Davies Nursery, on C. australis × C. banksii leaf spots, coll. G.F. Laundon LEV 3343, 26 May 1969 (PDD 50634); Taranaki, New Plymouth, Duncan and Davies Nursery, on C australis × C. banksii leaf spots, coll. G.F. Laundon, 26 May 1969 (PDD 26775); Waikato, Cambridge, Anton Nursery, on C. australis leaf spots, coll. L.A. Houghton, 23 Jul. 1992 (PDD 61219; ICMP 19444).

Leaf spots oblong to elliptic in shape, up to about 1 × 2 mm, sometimes coalescing when close together on a leaf, pale grey and necrotic in the centre with a reddish margin; acervuli numerous, base pale to dark grey, with scattered, dark brown setae about 50–80 μm long. Perithecia not seen on infected leaves. Freshly isolated colonies on Difco PDA 50–55 mm diam after 10 d, margin slightly irregular and feathery, aerial mycelium lacking from ex-holotype culture, when present fine, cottony, pale grey, surface of colony dark towards the centre, pale pinkish orange (7A6) towards margin, conidia forming over all parts of culture, mostly not associated with well differentiated acervuli, setae not observed; in reverse purple (12E3) near centre, orange outside, sometimes with concentric rings of grey pigment. Conidiogenous cells cylindric, mostly 15–25 × 3.5–4.5 μm, towards centre of colony arranged in closely packed palisade, towards margin the conidiophores with a much looser structure, irregularly branched, conidiogenous loci at apex and often also at septa. Conidia (11.5– )14–17.5(–23.5) × (4–)5–5.5(–7.5) μm (av. 16 × 5.2 μm, n = 53), cylindric, ends broadly rounded, sometimes tapering towards basal end. Appressoria often narrow-cylindric, often tapering towards apex, sometimes irregularly lobed. Perithecia developing in small numbers in culture after about 4 wk, solitary, scattered across plate, dark-walled, globose with well-developed, tapering ostiolar neck. Asci (60–)65–75(–78) × (10–) 11(–12) μm (av. 69.6 × 11 μm, n = 5), cylindric to subfusoid, 8–spored. Ascospores (14.5–)15.5–16.5(–19) × (4.5–)5–5.5(–6) μm (av. 15.9 × 5.2 μm, n=18), broad-cylindric, ends broadly rounded, not tapering to the ends, in side view mostly flat on one side, often slightly curved.

Geographic distribution and host range: Known only from Cordyline spp. from New Zealand.

Genetic identification: ITS sequences do not distinguish C. ti from C. aotearoa. The two species can be distinguished using TUB2 or GAPDH. Notes: A member of the Kahawae clade, this fungus causes a leaf spot of Cordyline spp. in New Zealand. It is genetically distinct from C. cordylinicola, described from Cordyline fruticosa from Thailand. Based on the published description of C. cordylinicola (Phoulivong et al. 2011) the two fungi are morphologically similar. Inoculation tests using culture ICMP 5285 when freshly isolated (J.M. Dingley, unpublished data), showed it to be pathogenic to Cordyline australis, forming spots on leaves 2 wk after inoculation, but causing no symptoms on apple, even after wounding. Although only four of the specimens examined have been compared genetically, all of the cited specimens examined match in terms of associated symptoms and conidial size and shape. A specimen from Cordyline banksii (PDD 78360) has narrower conidia, forms perithecia on the infected leaves, and perhaps represents a different species. Specimens accepted here as C. ti were referred to Glomerella cingulata by Laundon (1972). The appearance in culture varies between isolates. The J.M. Dingley cultures, first isolated in the mid-1960’s, have dense, felted aerial mycelium and limited conidial production; one has a much slower growth rate than the more recent collections.

Holotype: New Zealand, Taupo, on Cordyline sp., coll. J.M. Dingley 65187, Sep. 1965, PDD 24881; ex-holotype culture ICMP 4832.