Abstract
Sordariomycetes is one of the largest classes of Ascomycota that comprises a highly diverse range of fungi characterized mainly by perithecial ascomata and inoperculate unitunicate asci. The class includes many important plant pathogens, as well as endophytes, saprobes, epiphytes, coprophilous and fungicolous, lichenized or lichenicolous taxa. They occur in terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats worldwide. This paper reviews the 107 families of the class Sordariomycetes and provides a modified backbone tree based on phylogenetic analysis of four combined loci, with a maximum five representative taxa from each family, where available. This paper brings together for the first time, since Barrs' 1990 Prodromus, descriptions, notes on the history, and plates or illustrations of type or representative taxa of each family, a list of accepted genera, including asexual genera and a key to these taxa of Sordariomycetes. Delineation of taxa is supported where possible by molecular data. The outline is based on literature to the end of 2015 and the Sordariomycetes now comprises six subclasses, 32 orders, 105 families and 1331 genera. The family Obryzaceae and Pleurotremataceae are excluded from the class.