REPRESENTATIVE CULTURES: PDDCC 6618, 6619.

COLONY MORPHOLOGY OA & ME: Colonies 20-40 mm diam. after 7 days. Mycelium; either dense, unevenly lumpy with a "crystalline" appearance, grey to dark grey; or fine, cottony, grey to pale grey, of an even height. Reverse; OA: grey, often turning yellow or occasionally red after a few days; ME: dark grey. CHLAMYDOSPORES: Numerous, single or in, long chains or often aggregated into large, irregularly-shaped masses. May take several weeks to appear. CON IDIA: Small, even in shape, oblong with rounded ends, (3.5-)4-6(-7) x 1.5-2.5(-3) µm. PYCNIDIA: Solitary, dark walled.

OCCURRENCE: Common as a soil saprophyte and as a root parasite on several plants, e.g. Chrysanthemum spp., Medicago sativa L.

NOTE: Phoma leveillei has a similar cultural appearance to P. chrysanthemicola. Both are isolated from the soil and both have grey, slow-growing colonies. P. chrysanthemicola has chlamydospores and often produces yellow pigment on OA, whereas P. leveillei lacks chlamydospores and yellow pigmentation and has setae on the pycnidia: