Species in the Amylocorticiales form
fruit bodies that are effused (stretched out flat like a film-like growth), effused-reflexed (stretched out but with edges curled up) to almost pileate (with a
cap), or stipitate (with a
stipe). They have smooth
hymenophores that can be either
merulioid (wrinkled with low, uneven ridges), irpicoid (with "teeth") or poroid (with pores). The hyphal system is monomitic (containing only generative
hyphae) and all hyphae are nodose-septate (with nodes and
septa). The
cystidia are rare and when present, are tube-like and often nodose-septate. The
basidia (
spore-bearing cells) are mostly terminal but in one genus borne laterally on horizontal hyphae (pleurobasidia), invariably producing four spores. The
basidiospores are smooth, thin-walled or thick-walled,
ellipsoid, cylindrical or allantoid (sausage-shaped), in most species
amyloid. Taxa that do not exhibit amyloid reactions include
Agroathelia,
Ceraceomyces,
Podoserpula,
Serpulomyces and
Leptosporomyces septentrionalis. Species are
saprobic on decaying wood or as plant
parasites. Amylocorticiales typically cause brown rot or white rot.
Agroathelia (often called
Sclerotium rolfsii) is a major plant pathogen of field crops ==Genera==