scleroderris

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of discomycetous fungi having coriaceous ascocarps arising from a stroma seated beneath the surface of the substratum. At first they are subglobose and closed, but finally the covering ruptures and exposes the disk. The spores are hyaline, elongate, and 4 to 8-colled. Over 25 species are known, mostly saprophytic on trunks and branches. S. fuliginosa is said to be parasitic on twigs and branches of willows in Europe and North America.