# New publication - Wanted on Agave americana! November 10, 2021 - [ News ](/news-categories/news) In *Wanted on* Agave americana*!* Hymenobolus agaves*, an overlooked introduced pathogen in the western palearctic region*, a new publication in the journal *Fungal Systematics and Evolution*, the authors use integrative taxonomy to conclude *Hymenobolus*' systematic position. (Ribes MA, Escobio V, Negrín R, Baral HO, Pfister DH, Quijada L (2021). Wanted on *Agave americana*! *Hymenobolus agaves*, an overlooked introduced pathogen in the western palearctic region. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 8: 129–142. doi: 10.3114/fuse.2021.08.10) Read the full paper here: **Abstract:** *Hymenobolus agaves* has been reported only in Europe and Africa on the American plant *Agave americana* (*Asparagaceae*). This fungus has never been found in the native range of its host, in arid ecosystems of northern and central Mexico and Texas, USA. It has been suggested to be a pathogen that can kill its host. The fungus grows on succulent leaf bases of the plant. The morphology – black apothecia with a hymenium that disintegrates when asci mature and dark ornamented ascospores – make this species very distinctive, but it has been collected and reported only a few times since its first description. Its systematic position has been unclear, and it has been treated as *incertae sedis*, that is of uncertain placement, in *Leotiomycetes*. With recent collections and additional data on the ecology of H. agaves, we use integrative taxonomy (DNA sequences, morphology, ecology) to show its relationships is with *Cenangiaceae*. Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)