Strelitziana mali, a new species causing sooty blotch on apple fruit

Strelitziana mali, a new species isolated from the cuticle of apple fruit (Malus x domestica), is described and illustrated. Samples were collected from two orchards in Shaanxi and Henan Provinces, China. The fungus, pathogenic to apple fruits, is distinguished from the other known species in the genus both by morphological characters visible using optical and scanning electron microscopes and by phylogenetic analysis based on ITS sequences.