Higher plants furnish complex, multilayered, spatially
and temporally diverse habitats that support species-rich
assemblages of microorganisms. Microfungi are dominant
components of those assemblages, colonizing foliar
and twig surfaces (epiphytes), internal tissues of foliage

(foliar endophytes), young and old bark (bark endophytes),
and wood (xylem endophytes and wood decomposers).
Increasing interest in cryptic occupation of
internal tissues of healthy plants by endophytic microfungi
has led to a growing awareness that higher plants
likely harbor a reservoir of undiscovered fungi.