Sixty-one strains representing the main genera of wood-decaying xylariaceous fungi (mainly in Daldinia, Hypoxylon, Kretzschmaria, Rosellinia, Penzigia, and Xylaria) were tested for their ability to produce ligninolytic enzymes. The phenol oxidase activity and fungal growth of the xylariaceous fungi on gallic aicid and tannic acid media showed a variation in their ability to degrade lignocellulose. A number of species showed equal 개 betterligninolytic enzyme activities than Coriolus versicolor, a known basidiomycete wood-degrader. A large variation of the enzyme activity was observed by individual strains as well as a substantial variation between the isolates of the same species. The most frequent ligninolytic enzymes were peroxidase and general oxidase. With 19% of the strains tested, peroxidase showed the strongest ligninolytic enzyme activity, while tyrosinase activity was detected only in 7% of the strains. All strains of Kretzschmaria and Rosellinia tested was positive for laccase. Xylariaceous fungi were able to degrade the macromolecule, lignin, using each specific ligninolytic enzyme in the specfic lignin degradation pathway.