SPECIMENS EXAMINED: NORTHLAND: Bay of Islands County, Puketi State Forest, Loop Track vic. forest H.Q., on ground under living trees, Samuels (83-116) et al., 10 May 1983 (PDD 45344); Hokianga County, Waipoua State Forest, vic. forest H.Q., along Waipoua River, on ground, Samuels (83-73) et al., I1 May 1983 (PDD 45690); vic. Mangamuka Bridge, Mangamuka Gorge Scenic Reserve, on ground, Samuels (83-69) et al., 9 May 1983 (PDD 46273, anamorph only); vic. Mangamuka Bridge, Omahuta State Forest, vic. forest H.Q., on rotting wood, Samuels (83-117) et al., 11 May 1983 (PDD 45345). COROMANDEL: Manukau City, vic. Kawakawa Bay, Morehu Scenic Reserve, on ground with decaying wood, Samuels (83-69) et al., 5 May 1983 (PDD 46273, anamorph only).

Stromata solitary, simple, bifurcate or several times branched below the apex and then palmate, 2-7 cm long, filiform with whip-like tip; at first conidiogenous. Surface olivaceous brown and fleshy when fresh, wrinkled, glabrous; perithecia nearly superficial, intercalary, scattered, diagonally inserted, pyriform, 600 µm high x 400 µm; apex acute. Asci 170-200 µm total length x 7-8 µm, sporiferous part (105-)110-150 µm, cylindrical; apical ring J +, cylindrical, 2.5-3.0 µm wide x 4 µm high; 8-spored, ascospores uniseriate with overlapping ends or partially biseriate. Ascospores (14.5-)16.0-20.0(-22.0) x (6.5-)7.08.:5(-9.0) µm, naviculate with one end narrowed and the other end broadly rounded, or fusoid; inequilateral with one side flat and the other side rounded, dark brown, transparent to nearly opaque; slit nearly full length, 12-15 µm long, straight, parallel to long axis of the ascospore. Conidiophores in vivo loosely disposed along the length of whip-like tips of conidiogenous stromata. Conidia forming on swollen nodes of conidiogenous cells; coriidiophores and conidia otherwise as found in culture.
CHARACTERISTICS IN CULTURE: Colonies grown 1 month at 20°C in diffuse daylight on CMD 2 cm diam., felty, 'white but with abundant black sclerotia forming in the aerial mycelium. Colonies on OA > 9 cm diam., otherwise as on CMD but colony appearing black from abundant sclerotic. Sclerotic globose, 50-100 µm diam., solid, pseudoparenchyrnatous, black, sterile. Conidia forming on CMD and OA but more abundant on OA. Conidiophores on OA arising in aerial mycelium along lines of contact between single ascospore isolates; also forming on scattered synnematous structures. Synnemata forming only on OA, 1.0-1.5 cm long, white, branched, composed of 3-4 µm wide hyphae. Conidiophores loosely dispersed along the length of the synnemata and terminating hyphae of synnemal surface, irregularly branched, each branch terminating in a 15-40 µm long conidiogenous rachis; conidia forming along the length of the conidiogenous rachis, conidiogenous scars c. 1 µm wide, with a refractive frill. Conidia (4.0-)4.5-5.5(-6.0) x 2.0-3.0(-3.5) µm, clavate, colourless, smooth; each with a refractive, 1 µm wide, basal frill.

DISTRIBUTION: NORTH ISLAND: Northland, Coromandel.

HABITAT: On ground under living trees and on well rotted wood.

This fungus appears to be a distinct species related to X. cf. filiformis, X. schwackei Henn., and X. vagans Petch (if indeed these names represent distinct species). Xylaria cf. filiformis is usually considered to be an inhabitant of leaves, petioles and herbaceous stems, whereas the two related species have been reported on woody substrates. There are many described species of small wood-inhabiting Xylaria, however, and these should be studied before concluding that the fungus under consideration is an undescribed species. Xylaria taxonomic species 1 seems unusual in the loose (non-palisade) arrangement of conidiophores on conidiogenous stromata.