Abstract

The Rhytismatales are both genetically and biologically diverse in Australasia. Although taxonomically one of the better known groups of ascomycetes from the region, almost all knowledge on the group is confined to species from south-eastern Australia and New Zealand. The indigenous Australasian species show two distinct patterns of geographic relationship—one group comprises species with a broad tropical distribution, the other comprises species that have close relatives on phylogenetically related hosts in other parts of the temperate Southern Hemisphere. While the widespread tropical species have a broad host range, the others tend to be specialised toward a single host. Further research required includes alpha-taxonomic studies from other parts of Australasia, study of the biological roles these fungi play in Australasian forests and molecular studies on the origin of the genetic diversity of the order in this region.