# New Publication - The Unexpected Identity of Tympanis vagabunda March 01, 2023 - [ News ](/news-categories/news) Farlow Fellow Luis Quijada and colleagues have a [new article](https://doi.org/10.3390/life13030661) in the journal *Life.* Part of a special issue, [Biodiversity and Ecology of Fungi in Terrestrial and Marine Ecosystems, Volume II](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/ER53O6I9EU), Quijada and co-authors investigate the identity of *Tympanis vagabunda.* **Abstract:** *Tympanis* species (Leotiales) are plant pathogens distributed mostly in northern temperate ecosystems. The diversity and identity of some species remains unclear. *Tympanis vagabunda*, found in Sicilia (Italy) on dry twigs of *Rosa*, *Rubus*, and *Pistacia*, is one example of an obscure and poorly known species. During the study of its type specimen in S, which contained one twig with a wood anatomy fitting neither of the three mentioned hosts, the microanatomic structures indicated that it belongs to the genus *Rutstroemia* (Helotiales). To investigate its identity, the types of *R. fruticeti*, *R. juniperi*, *R. urceolus*, and *R. longiasca* were studied for comparison. The species for which molecular data were available were included in a dataset that contained identified species of *Rutstroemia*, along with other select species from the families Rutstroemiaceae and Sclerotiniaceae. *R. fruticeti*, a saprobe frequently reported from *Rubus fruticosus* in Europe, is found to be a later synonym of *T. vagabunda*, and the combination *Rutstroemia vagabunda* is proposed. *R. juniperi* is an infrequently reported European species on twigs of *Juniperus* and is morphologically hard to distinguish from *R. vagabunda*; available molecular data support its recognition as a distinct species. *R. longiasca* differs from *R. vagabunda* in its black apothecia, smaller asci, and narrower ascospores. *R. urceolus* differs from *R. vagabunda* in having black apothecia and smaller inamyloid asci, and excipulum at the flanks and margin is composed of dark-walled hyphae. Quijada L, Baral H-O, Pfister DH. The Unexpected Identity of *Tympanis vagabunda*. *Life*. 2023; 13(3):661. Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)