Plectosphaera eucalypti

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The fruitbody is small, black, globose and a little under a millimetre in diameter. They appear in colonies on the leaves of various eucalypts and the author of the paper listed below says “The fungus produces circular to irregular colonies in the leaf, varying from a few mm across (seen on Eucalyptus regnans) to elongated patches up to 5 cm long (seen on E. melliodora). The colonies may have a reddish tinge, they cause a slight thickening in the leaf and, when large, may considerably distort it. Colonies may occur on either surface of the leaf but usually are visible on one side only except for a slight discoloration on the reverse surface”.

The first published description of the species (as Trabuti eucalypti) appeared in 1888 and was based on material collected in Tasmania. There seem to have been only a small number of reports of this species.

Look-alikes

The species seems to be fairly distinctive.

Reference

H.J. Swart, 1981, Australian leaf-inhabiting fungi, XI. Phyllachora eucalypti, Transactions of the British Mycological Society, 76, 89-95.