epichloë

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of parasitic fungi of the order Hypocreales, having the perithecia embedded in a smooth, bright-colored, fleshy stroma which is at first covered with a conidial layer. The asci are cylindrical and contain 8 hyaline filiform spores. The species are mostly parasitic on grasses, as the name indicates. E. typhina frequently attacks the cultivated grasses, Poa pratensis, blue-grass, and Phleum pratense, timothy.