Mycological Progress 4(2): 161–167, May 2005
Sphaerophragmium pulchrum, a new species of rust fungi on
Albizia adinocephala from Panama
Meike PIEPENBRING
Sphaerophragmium pulchrum is proposed as a new microcyclic rust species on Albizia adinocephala from Panama. Telia
and spermogonia are described, illustrated, and compared to those of known species of Sphaerophragmium. Spermogonia
are described for the first time for a species of Sphaerophragmium. This is the first record of this genus for the southern part
of the Central American isthmus.
Taxonomical novelty: Sphaerophragmium pulchrum M. Piepenbr.
Keywords: Leguminosae, Mimosoideae, neotropical rust fungi, Raveneliaceae
T
he genus Sphaerophragmium with the type species
S. acaciae (Cooke) Magnus was established by MAG-
NUS (1891) based on Triphragmium acaciae Cooke.
It has been monographed by SYDOW & SYDOW (1915), MO-
NOSON (1974), and LOHSOMBOON, KAKISHIMA & ONO (1994),
who provided many details and excellent comparisons. Since
LOHSOMBOON, KAKISHIMA & ONO (1994), only one additional
species, S. quadricellulare Alcorn & J. Walker on Acacia pen-
nata (L.) Willd. ssp. kerrii I. Nielsen, has been described (AL-
CORN & WALKER 1996). Seventeen species of Sphaerophrag-
mium are currently known, 14 species infecting members of
the Fabaceae and three species members of the Annonaceae.
According to SAVILE (1989), Sphaerophragmium belongs
to the Raveneliaceae (Uredinales, Basidiomycota) and differs
from the other 20 genera in the production of 4- to several-cel-
led, globoid teliospores borne singly on hyaline pedicels with-
out cysts. The probasidial cells of the teliospores of species of
Sphaerophragmium are delimited by irregular vertical and
transverse septa.
For species of Sphaerophragmium, telia and uredinia have
been described. CUMMINS (1959), MONOSON (1974), and
LOHSOMBOON, KAKISHIMA & ONO (1994) reported that neither
spermogonia nor aecia are known from species of Sphaero-
phragmium. CUMMINS & HIRATSUKA (1983, 2003), however,
mention aecia and subepidermal spermogonia belonging to
Group VI (type 5; HIRATSUKA & HIRATSUKA 1980) for spe-
cies of this genus, without illustrations of these stages or re-
ferences to literature. This contradiction has also been noticed
by REZENDE & DIANESE (2002).
Botanisches Institut, J. W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, D-
60054 Frankfurt am Main, Germany;
E-mail: piepenbring@em.uni-frankfurt.de
161
Species of Sphaerophragmium are known worldwide
from regions with warm to tropical climate. Up to now, only
three species are known from the Americas: S. acaciae (Cooke)
Magnus is known from Florida, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and
Brazil, S. fimbriatum Mains from Mexico, Guatemala, and Ni-
caragua, and S. silveirae Speg. from Brazil (LOHSOMBOON,
KAKISHIMA & ONO 1994). The limited distribution of these
rusts is probably due to lack of data and they are likely much
more widely distributed. In the neotropics, only the Puccinio-
sireae (Pucciniaceae) (BURITICÁ & HENNEN 1980) and Pha-
kopsoraceae (BURITICÁ 1999 and publications cited therein)
have been monographed up to now. According to a recent
check-list of rusts in Costa Rica (BERNDT 2004) and literature
research on plant parasitic microfungi in Panama, for both
countries not a single species of Sphaerophragmium is known.
Collections of a species of Sphaerophragmium on Albizia adi-
nocephala were recently made in Panama. The rust does not
match other described species and therefore is described as
new.
Material and methods
Specimens collected by the author and specimens loaned from
the herbarium Botanische Staatssammlung München (M)
were examined by light (LM) and scanning electron micro-
scopy (SEM). Measurements were taken of spores mounted in
water and sizes given represent the means plus/minus the stan-
dard deviation of at least 20 measurements for each structure.
Specimens examined for comparison:
Sphaerophragmium acaciae (Cooke) P. Magnus. On Albizia lebbek
Benth. Taiwan: Taipei ("Taihoku"), 19 Nov 1930, W. Yamamoto
s. n., in Sydow, Fungi exotici exsiccati 964 (M 80718).
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162 PIEPENBRING: Sphaerophragmium pulchrum, a new rust from Panama

Figs. 1-4. Sphaerophragmium pulchrum on Albizia adinocephala (Piepenbring & Kirschner 3180). – 1. Leaflets of A. adino-
cephala with spots caused by the rust. Bar = 1 cm. – 2. Spot on the adaxial side of a leaflet under stereomicroscope. Bar = 2 mm. –
3. Detail of Fig. 2 showing erumpent telia and orange colored spermogonia. Bar = 0.5 mm. – 4. Teliospores as seen by LM.
Bar = 20 µm.

Sphaerophragmium acaciae. On Albizia lebbek. Vietnam ("Tonkin"):
Hanoi, Jan 1922, (without name of collector), in Sydow, Fungi exo-
tici exsiccati 730 (M 80719).
Results
sori non visis, circularia, 120–160 µm, atro-aurantiaca, pycnidio-
sporis 2–3 × 3.5–5 µm. Telia linearia, 200–300 × 200–700 µm, con-
fluentia longia, erumpentia. Teliosporae rufo-brunneae, pedicella-
tae, globosae, ex (2) 3–5 cellulis compositae, (25) 33–40 (42) × (35)
38–46 µm. Cellula singularis (12) 15–23 × (23) 25–32 (35) µm,
spinis 3–5 µm longis, simplicibus, hyalinis.

Etymology: “pulchrum“ (lat.) = pretty, beautiful – see Figs. 3–4.

Sphaerophragmium pulchrum M. Piepenbr. sp. nov.
Figs. 1-18
HOLOTYPE. Panama. Chiriquí: Bugaba, Concepción, alt. ca. 10 m,
on leaflets of Albizia adinocephala (Donn. Sm.) Britton & Rose (Fa-
baceae, Mimosoideae), 23 Feb 2003, Piepenbring & Kirschner 3180
(PMA). ISOTYPE in M.
TOPOTYPE. Panama. Chiriquí: same locality, on leaflets of Albizia
adinocephala, 11 March 2004, Piepenbring & S. Cáceres 3396
(PMA).
Aecidia et uredinia non visa. Maculis foliolorum circularis, amphi-
genis, ca. (2.5) 3–4 mm diam., pallescentibus, spermogonia et telia
amphigena sed in pagina adaxiali plura, spermogonia teliis cincta.
Spermogonia punctiformia, intraepidermalia, cellulis ad marginem
Aecidia and uredinia not seen. Spots on leaves (Figs. 1–2)
mostly circular, ca. (2.5) 3–4 mm diam., light green, evident
on both sides of the leaves, spermatogonia and telia within the
leaf spots, epiphyllous, rarely hypophyllous (Figs. 2–3), sper-
mogonia mostly in the central part of the spots surrounded by
telia.
Spermogonia (Figs. 5–6) intraepidermal, rupturing the
epidermal cells and covered by the periclinal outer wall and
cuticula of the epidermis, no bounding structures observed,
circular, ca. 120–160 µm diam., dark orange as seen by the
stereomicroscope (Fig. 3), Group VI (type 5). Spermatia (Figs.

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Mycological Progress 4(2) / 2005 163

Figs. 5–8. Sphaerophragmium pulchrum on Albizia adinocephala as seen by LM (Piepenbring & Kirschner 3180 except
Fig. 8). – 5. Transverse section through a leaflet with a telium and a spermogonium on the adaxial side. (Anatomical details of
the mesophyll have not been drawn.) – 6. Longitudinal section of spermogonium with spermatogenous cells and spermatia part-
ly covered by the outer wall of the epidermis. – 7. Spermatia. – 8. Detail of a telium showing host cells of the palisade layer at
the base, densely packed fungal hyphae, emerging sporogenous cells as well as young and mature teliospores (Piepenbring &
Cáceres 3396).

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164 PIEPENBRING: Sphaerophragmium pulchrum, a new rust from Panama

Figs. 9-16. Teliospores of Sphaerophragmium pulchrum as seen by LM (Piepenbring & Kirschner 3180 except Fig. 14: Pie-
penbring & Cáceres 3396). Note exceptionally two-celled teliospore in Fig. 9 and the septum in the pedicel of the teliospore
in Fig. 14. All the teliospores are drawn at the same scale.

6–7) formed at the tips of elongated, club-shaped cells which
form a palisade-like layer, with a layer of 15–20 µm thick-
ness formed by thin-walled textura angularis underneath.
Spermatia of irregular shape, mostly polyhedrical, ca. 2–3 ×
3.5–5 µm, hyaline, smooth.
Telia (Fig. 3) mostly linear, erumpent along a central line
(not preformed), ca. 200–300 × 200–700 µm, longer by fusion.
Teliospores powdery in mass, dark brown to black, develop-
ing beneath the epidermis which is separated from subepi-
dermal tissue (Fig. 5), paraphyses absent. Teliospore develop-
ment is initiated by terminal cells of septate hyphae emerging
from a layer of densely packed hyphae (Fig. 8) as described
by HIREMATH & PAVGI (1974) for Sphaerophragmium aca-
ciae. Teliospores (Figs. 4, 8–18) globose, ca. (25) 33–40 (42)
× (35) 38–46 µm, vertically, horizontally, and obliquely divi-
ded into (2) 3–5 firmly united probasidial cells in a variable
disposition, strongly constricted at the septa, with hyaline pe-
dicel. Probasidial cells subglobose, obovoid, or polyhedrical

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Mycological Progress 4(2) / 2005
Figs. 17-18. Teliospores of Sphaerophragmium pulchrum as seen by SEM (Piepenbring & Kirschner 3180). Bars = 10 µm.
to cuneate, ca. (12) 15–23 × (23) 25–32 (35) µm. Teliospore
walls uniformly 2–3.5 µm thick, thinner inside the spores, me-
dium reddish brown, lighter colored close to the insertion of
the pedicel, germ pores not observed. Teliospores with ca.
14–25 spines on the free surface of each probasidial cell, sur-
face between the spines smooth, as seen by SEM (Figs.
17–18). Spines forming a right angle to the surface of the
spore or inclined, mostly simple, often with a broadened base,
very rarely bifurcate at the tips, ca. 3–5 µm long, hyaline. Pe-
dicels rarely observed attached to teliospores in scratched
microscope preparations, central, sometimes attached to a
light-colored, thin-walled cell or mucilaginous material, ca.
4–8 µm broad, up to 90 µm long, hyaline, sometimes with a
thin septum (Figs. 8, 14), wall ca. 1–3 µm thick, smooth.
Life cycle apparently microcyclic.
Discussion
Three species of Sphaerophragmium are known from species
of Albizia: S. acaciae, S. albiziae Lohsomb., Kakish. & Y.
Ono, and S. clemensiae Syd. in Syd. & Petrak (LOHSOMBOON,
KAKISHIMA & ONO 1994). In contrast to the new species, spi-
nes on teliospores of S. acaciae and S. clemensiae are tri- or
tetrafurcate. The spines of teliospores of S. albiziae are simi-
lar to those of the new species, but the teliospores of S. albi-
ziae always have four probasidial cells.
Based on the number of probasidial cells and size of the
teliospores, the new species closely resembles S. mucunae Ra-
cib. and S. parkiae Dennis, but teliospores of both of these
species are ornamented by forked spines. Teliospores with
simple spines, as in S. pulchrum, are produced by S. albiziae
(discussed above) and S. evernium Syd., but the latter species
has smaller teliospores, longer spines (6–10 µm), and the host,
165
a species of Dialium, is in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae
whereas species of Albizia belong to the Mimosoideae.
While the 17 species of Sphaerophragmium known up to
now develop uredinia and telia or only telia (LOHSOMBOON,
KAKISHIMA & ONO 1994), the two collections of S. pulchrum
have spermogonia and telia in close vicinity. Based on this
material spermogonia are described in detail for a species of
Sphaerophragmium for the first time. The statement that sper-
mogonia of type 5 in the group VI are typical for members
of this genus, published without details by CUMMINS & HI-
RATSUKA (1983 and following editions), is thereby supported.
I consider the fact that the spermogonia of the new species are
intraepidermal and the spermogonia of type 5 are subepider-
mal to be of minor importance.
The genus Albizia is well represented in warm to tropical
regions in Asia, Africa, and America with 118 species world-
wide (MABBERLEY 1998). S. albiziae and S. clemensiae are
known only from South-East Asia, while S. acaciae is re-
ported worldwide. S. pulchrum is the fourth species described
on species of Albizia. It seems that species of Albizia are im-
portant hosts for species of Sphaerophragmium (with respect
to numbers of species) along with species of Dalbergia (Pa-
pilionoideae, Fabaceae), for which four species of Sphaero-
phragmium are known as well (LOHSOMBOON, KAKISHIMA &
ONO 1994).
Acknowledgements
For fieldwork in Panama, the help by S. and O. Cáceres in the
field and collaboration by P. Caballero, M. Correa, and the
ANAM for collecting permits and export is acknowledged. R.
Berndt and an unknown reviewer are thanked for critically
reading the manuscript, R. Kirschner for help with the Latin
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166 PIEPENBRING: Sphaerophragmium pulchrum, a new rust from Panama
diagnosis and revision of the manuscript, D. Triebel (M) for
a herbarium loan, and M. Ruppel for technical assistance with
SEM. The DAAD is thanked for financial support of the
exchange program realized in the context of the university-
partnership between the University of Frankfurt and the
UNACHI in David, Panama, and for the support of short term
teaching by the author.
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Accepted: 17.9.2004