Mycowinteria
| Mycowinteria | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Baeomycetales |
| Family: | Protothelenellaceae |
| Genus: | Mycowinteria Sherwood (1986) |
| Type species | |
| Mycowinteria anodonta (Nyl.) Sherwood & Boise (1986)
| |
| Species | |
|
M. alpina | |
| Synonyms | |
Mycowinteria is a small genus of fungi in the family Protothelenellaceae. The genus was established in 1986 by Martha Sherwood-Pike as a replacement name for the illegitimate Winteria, and comprises three known species found on weathered wood in Europe, Norway, Sweden, and Papua New Guinea. These fungi appear as tiny dark greenish-black spots with distinctive microscopic features including thick-walled asci that stain blue with iodine and complex grid-patterned (muriform) spores. While sometimes found growing near algae, they do not form true lichens, though their exact taxonomic placement has been debated.