Abstract:

On living leaves, fungi form 2 well-differentiated groups; phylloplane species and endophytes. When the leaf dies, the former colonize the interior but do not completely displace the endophytes. The phylloplane community is similar to that found on other plants but endophytes exhibit host specificity. Both groups show variation in frequency, but whereas phylloplane species show a distinct seasonal pattern, with maxima in autumn-winter and minima in summer, directly correlated with humidity and inversely with temperature, those of the interior of the leaf exhibit more dependence on age and/or physiological condition of the leaf. Fructification seems to depend as much on season as on leaf age. Most of the endophytic species fruit in autumn-winter on dry leaves attached to the tree and/or on leaf-litter. An ecological classification of non-pathogenic fungi is elaborated for the phyllosphere fungi of E. viminalis in Argentina.-from Author