Over the footprints of Italian mycology with emphasis on plantassociated Ascomycota

Italy is a Mediterranean country in south-central Europe that has a long tradition in mycology. The mycological journey from ancient Italy to modern advanced studies is remarkable. In this study, we outline historical studies on different fungal groups, mycologists' contributions, fungal collections, illustration techniques, and their development, including traditional and modern taxonomic approaches. In addition, the current progress of mycology is discussed, with an emphasis on plant-associated Ascomycota. Furthermore, a case study was carried out to better understand the occurrence of saprobic Ascomycota on different host plants in terrestrial habitats. We describe a novel genus, Pigmentatineomassaria (Neomassariaceae, Pleosporales), with the type species, P. italica, and another novel species, Alborbis italica (Sydowiellaceae, Diaporthales) as well as 16 novel host records, five new geographical records, two new regional records, and two host recurrent species, from Botryosphaeriaceae, Melanopsaceae (Botryosphaeriales), Hysteriaceae (Hysteriales), Cucurbitariaceae, Didymellaceae, Leptosphaeriaceae,