Neolecta
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Neolecta is a genus of ascomycetous fungi that have fruiting bodies in the shape of unbranched yellowish club-shaped columns up to about 7cm tall. The species share the English designation "Earth tongues" with some better-known fungi with a similar general form, but in fact they are only distantly related.
It is the only genus belonging to the family Neolectaceae, which is the only family belonging to the order Neolectales, which is the only order belonging to the class Neolectomycetes, which belongs to the subdivision Taphrinomycotina of the Ascomycota.
Neolecta is found in North America, Northern Europe and Brazil. The species all live in association with conifers; it is not known whether they are pure parasites or whether the trees also derive an advantage from the relationship.
They are filamentous (consisting of a web of hyphae) but are morphologically distinct from other mycelial ascomycetes, particularly regarding the lack of sterile cells which are elsewhere found in the ascocarp ("paraphyses" and "crosiers"). Also DNA studies show that Neolecta diverged very early from its known relatives, and it provides important evidence for the evolutionary history of the Ascomycota.
