Xylaria hypoxylon (L.) Grev. is an ascomycete fungus that is classified in the family Xylariaceae (Xylariales, Sordariomycetes). It fruits from downed wood forming a stipitate, branched or club-like stroma. Early in development the stroma produces asexual, white spores that are powdery and wind-dispersed, giving its common name “candlesnuff”. Later the stroma develops black to darkly pigmented perithecia that give the stroma a roughed or bumpy appearance. Perithecia are the products of sexual reproduction and contain asci and ascospores, which are forcibly ejected and wind-dispersed. X. hypoxylon is a wood decay fungus that results in a white-rot form of wood decay that has independently evolved relative to the white-rot of basidiomycetes. Species of Xylaria are also frequently isolated as endophytes of plants. Sequencing of the X. hypoxylon genome will advance the 1000 Fungal Genomes Project by providing a representative genome of Xylariaceae and advancing our understanding of the evolution of wood decay among ascomycetes.
