The teleomorph of Phoma medicaginis var.
pinodella is reported for the first time. A single isolate,
collected from infected plant material in Australia, produced asci
and ascospores in culture. The anamorph was identified as Phoma
medicaginis var. pinodella on the basis of axenic
colony morphology, symptoms on the foliage of a susceptible pea line
and characteristic hybridization banding patterns observed during
RFLP analysis. The ascospores and asci, although similar in
morphology to those produced by Mycosphaerella pinodes, were
considerably larger. Therefore, the binomial assignment of the
teleomorph remains open to speculation. The potential impact on
disease dissemination and effectiveness of control measures against
P. medicaginis var. pinodella are discussed.