Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2004. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 2.
Life habit: lichenicolous, commensalistic, non-lichenized Ascomata: initially immersed in the host thallus or apothecia, subspherical to slightly flattened, dark brown, sometimes becoming almost superficial, 80-200 µm in diam., cleistohymenial, i.e. at first completely closed, the upper, covering part of the exciple much thicker and more strongly pigmented than the lower one, opening by a pore, which often becomes larger, showing the brown disc margin: (mature ascomata) smooth or slightly rugose, not radially fissured exciple: laterally 14-33 µm wide, basally 0-10 µm wide, almost paraplectenchymatic, yellowish brown, K-, with +round or ellipsoid lumina and thick gelatinized walls, without hairs hymenium: hyaline, I- and KI-, 50-65 µm tall, covered by a coarse granular, dark yellow, K- layer periphysoids: indistinct paraphyses: hyaline, filiform, simple or rarely branched, septate, 1-2.5 µm in diam., apically often slightly thickened nium: hyaline, KI-, formed by interwoven hyphae, 5-15 µm thick; hypothecium: absent asci: elongate clavate to subcylindrical, 47-55 x 5.5-12 µm, K/I-, wall thin, apically slightly thickened, without a distinct ocular chamber, 16-32-spored ascospores: hyaline, acicular, helicoid, rarely straight, 1-septate, not constricted at the septum, both cells +equal in length, smooth, without perispore, 22-31 x 1-2.5 µm Conidiomata: unknown. Hosts: thalli and apothecia of Fuscidea, Graphis, Haematomma, Lecanora, Lobaria, Melanelia, Ochrolechia, Parmelina, Peltigera, Pertusaria, Phlyctis, Platismatia, Porpidia?, Pseudocyphellaria, Rinodina and Xylographa; in the Sonoran area on Pertusaria wulfenioides distribution: North and South America, Europe, and Australia Sonoran distribution: once collected in montane areas of Arizona. Notes: All well-documented lichenicolous species of Ostropales are host-specific, and this would be the first known example of a species growing on many non-related hosts. A worldwide revision of Spirographa might therefore lead to the recognition of a larger number of species.