MID CANTERBURY: Christchurch Botanical Garden, dead leaf of Nothofagus fusca, J. A. Cooper 8275, 9 Oct 2001; Kowai Bush, dead wood of Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides, 8 Apr 2001, PDD 80812; Caton’s Bay, dead petiole of Salix fragilis, 12 Sep 2001, PDD 74781.

Propagules globose, hyaline at first then grey-brown, 100–180 µm diam. Cortex cells 6–10 × 4–5 µm.

This species has previously been recorded in New Zealand but a note is appropriate. It is difficult to distinguish between the genera Clathrosporium and Spirosphaera without careful observation. Clathrosporium is distinguished by bilateral branching of conidium filaments resulting in a complex conidium that has a tendency to disarticulate on compression and is generally dematiaceous and has macronematous conidiophores (Hennebert 1998). Spirosphaera is characterised by unilateral branching (except S. lignicola), which is difficult to distinguish without specimens showing a complete range of conidium development. However, this generally results in a conidium with obvious spiral elements, and the conidia are generally hyaline, micronematous, and not disarticulating (except S. beverwijkiana Hennebert; see Abdullah et al. (1986)). The type of S. floriformis (the type of the genus) has not been examined. However, the original description and illustration by van Beverwijk (1952) indicate many spiral filaments and this feature is not clearly present in some later descriptions that show a similarity to Clathrosporium, e.g., Hennebert (1968), Abdullah et al. (1997), Matsushima (1996). The specimens reported here agree with these later descriptions of S. floriformis.