SPECIMENS EXAMINED: NORTHLAND: Bay of Islands, Russell State Forest, Ngaiotonga Scenic Reserve, Kauri Grove Track, on decaying wood, Samuels (85-10) et al., 16 May 1985 (PDD 49005). AUCKLAND: Waitemata City, Waitakere Ranges, Cascade Kauri Park, elev. 200 ft., Dingley, Sep. 1948 (PDD 45340).

Anamorph: Xylocoremium flabelliforme Rogers, Mycologia 76: 914. 1984.
Stromata unbranched, cylindrical, 2.5 cm long x 1 cm diam., base sometimes slightly enlarged, pannose; entire fructification fertile; brown. Surface plane, crustose and hard, not splitting but with network of fine cracks; perithecia completely immersed. c. 500 µm diam., opening through minute papillae; internal tissue solid (stromata often becoming hollow in collections from elsewhere), white. Asci 160-180 µm total length x 6-7 µm, sporiferous portion 50-70 µm, cylindrical; apical ring J+, minute, c. 2 µm wide x 1 µm high; 8-spored, ascospores uniseriate with overlapping ends. Ascospores 8-10.5 x 4-5 µm, inequilateral with one side flat to concave and the other side round, elliptic in top view; brown, transparent; slit obscure, probably full length, parallel to long axis of ascospore.
CHARACTERISTICS IN CULTURE: Colonies grown on OA 3 weeks at c. 20°C, 12 h darkness/ 12 h near ultraviolet + cool white fluorescent light > 9 cm; mycelium appressed to the surface of the agar, pale salmon; stromata forming throughout the colony. Stromata to 1.5 cm long x 3 mm diam., longest stromata in the middle of the colony, salmon but black at the base, cylindrical except at the tip which is convoluted, conidiogenous. Conidia held in pale grey, powdery masses. Conidiophores forming a compact 25-30 µm deep palisade, ± penicillately branched 3-4 times, each branch 15-20 µm long, bearing refractive frilled scars c. 0.5 gin diam. over the upper half of the cell. Conidia 4-5(-6) x 1.5-2.0 µm, clavate, colourless, smooth; each with a flat, refractive, 0.5-0.7 µm wide basal abscission scar.

NORTH ISLAND: Northland, Auckland. Within New Zealand known from two collections.

HABITAT: On decaying wood of dicotyledonous trees.

Xylaria cubensis is found in various tropical, subtropical, and temperate localities of the world. Its systematics and biology have recently been discussed by Rogers (1984). It has been confused with X. castorea and its allies (see notes regarding X. castorea).