| Author | Ellis, M.B. |
| Year | 1971 |
| Title | Dematiaceous Hyphomycetes |
| Type | Book/Report |
| How Complete | A selection of species from around the world. |
| Source | 608pp, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux |
| Illustrations | Abundant stipple drawings throughout. |
| Review (by Malcolm Storey) | Hyphomycetes are an unnatural grouping of ascomycetes, united by the loss of the ability (or at least the habit) of forming sexual spores (ascospores). They reproduce by one or more types of asexual spore termed "conidia" (sing: "conidium"). Dematiaceous hyphomycetes are an unnatural grouping within this unnatural grouping, united by the presence of dark pigment in either or both of the conidia and/or conidiophores. The present work, and the companion volume, (imaginatively titled "More Dematiaceous Hyphomycetes") form a relatively approachable introduction to the identification of this large and economically important group of organisms. Hyphomycetes have their own teminology which is covered in the five introductory pages. This is followed by the Key To Genera (236 couplets) which covers those genera in the present volume. The key makes full use of the teminology that has just been introduced! This is followed by the generic and species accounts, with keys to genera with two or more species. Each species account describes the morphology, microscopy, substrate and distribution as then understood. It is unfortunate that the keys in both volumes cover only those species in that volume, so must be used in parallel. |
| Examine |  Compound Microscope |
| Specimen Preparation | Microscopy of conidia and conidiophores; staining (eg Cotton Blue) often needed to discern detail. |
| Identification difficulty | The larger ones are quite easy, once you understand the basics of the terminology, but many species are more difficult, especially in the larger genera. |
