Ochraceocephala foeniculi gen. et sp. nov., a new pathogen causing crown rot of fennel in Italy Author Aiello, Dalia Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, sezione Patologia Vegetale, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 100, 95123 Catania, Italy dalia.aiello@live.it Author Vitale, Alessandro Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, sezione Patologia Vegetale, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 100, 95123 Catania, Italy Author Polizzi, Giancarlo Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente, sezione Patologia Vegetale, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 100, 95123 Catania, Italy Author Voglmayr, Hermann Institute of Forest Entomology, Forest Pathology and Forest Protection, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Franz Schwackhoefer Haus, Peter-Jordan-Strasse 82 / I, 1190 Vienna, Austria & Division of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Wien, Austria text MycoKeys 2020 66 1 22 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.66.48389 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.66.48389 1314-4049-66-1 E95E2F40D64D5287A0D939016E554BD4 Ochraceocephala Voglmayr & Aiello gen. nov. Etymology. referring to the ochraceous conidial capitula of the type species. Conidiophores erect, variable in shape and branching, from unbranched, loosely to densely branched up to several times; branching commonly irregularly verticillate. Phialides arising singly or in irregular whorls, cylindrical, lageniform or ampulliform, producing basipetal conidial chains. Conidia in chains, unicellular, thick-walled. Type species. Ochraceocephala foeniculi Voglmayr & Aiello. Notes. Ochraceocephala is phylogenetically closely related to Plenodomus , from which it deviates substantially in morphology. Plenodomus species are characterised by pycnidial phoma-like asexual morphs, and while in two Plenodomus species ( P. chrysanthemi , P. tracheiphilus ) simple hyphomycetous, phialophora-like synanamorphs have been recorded ( Boerema et al. 1994 ), these are very different from the complex conidiophores of the present fennel pathogen. These morphological differences, the lack of a suitable genus within Leptosphaeriaceae and its phylogenetic position therefore warrants the establishment of a new genus.