 Banksiamyces is a genus of fungi in the order Helotiales , with a tentative placement in the family Helotiaceae . The genus contains four species , which grow on the seed follicles of the dead infructescences or " cones " of various species of Banksia , a genus in the plant family Proteaceae endemic to Australia . Fruit bodies of the fungus appear as small ( typically less than 10 mm diameter ) , shallow dark cups on the follicles of the Banksia fruit . The edges of dry fruit bodies fold inwards , appearing like narrow slits . The first specimens of Banksiamyces , known then as Tympanis toomansis , were described in 1887 . Specimens continued to be collected occasionally for almost 100 years before becoming examined more critically in the early 1980s , leading to the creation of a new genus to contain what was determined to be three distinct species , B. katerinae , B. macrocarpus , and B. toomansis . A fourth species , B. maccannii , was added in 1984 . 
