NOTEWORTHY GERMINATIONS OF SOME COSTA-RICAN USTILAGINALES

Teliospore germinations of three different Costa Rican smut species are described for the first time. The fertile cells of Doassansiopsis limnocharidis germinate with holobasidia (Tilletia type) but their basidiospores produce yeast colonies typical for germinations of the Ustilago type. Holobasidia from Thecaphora haumani do not correspond to most of the germination patterns known from other species of the genus. Germinations of Mycosyrinx cissi teliospores present folded and curiously thickened basidiospores arising successively directly from the teliospore. The germination type as a character for generic delimation and the problems concerning the division of the smut genera in two systematic groups based on two basic germination patterns are shortly discussed.