Aquatic Hyphomycetes of Kumaun Himalaya: Tricladium

Aquatic hyphomycetes are ecologically important, polyphyletic group of aquatic fungi with distinctly shaped conidia. Various running fresh water bodies of Kumaun Himalaya were surveyed and different submerged leaf litter, foam as well as roots of riparian plants were collected. Collected samples were processed, incubated and examined for the presence of aquatic hyphomycetes. Overall, eight species of aquatic hyphomycetes belonging to the genus Tricladium (T. aciculum, T. angulatum, T. anomalum, T. indicum, T. marylandicum, T. chaetocladium, T. splendens and T. terrestre) were recorded from submerged leaf litter and live roots of various riparian plants. Of these, T. marylandicum was new addition to the Indian mycoflora while two species T. indicum and T. marylandicum were recovered as root endophyte for the first time. A detailed taxonomic description including occurrence and distribution of each Kumaun Himalayan species of Tricladium is described and discussed here under.