Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Meruliaceae with Descriptions of Two New Species from China

Two new wood-inhabiting fungi Hermanssonia fimbriata sp. nov. and Phlebia austroasiana sp. nov. in the Meruliaceae family are described and illustrated from southwestern China based on molecular and morphological evidence. The characteristics of H. fimbriata include annual, resupinate basidiomata, the absence of cystidia and cystidioles, oblong ellipsoid basidiospores of 5-6 x 2.4-3 mu m, and growth on rotten gymnosperm wood in the east Himalayas. Its basidiomata change drastically upon drying, from being a light-coloured, juicy, papillose-to-wrinkled hymenophore, to a dark-coloured, corky-to-gelatinous, and more or less smooth hymenophore. The characteristics of Ph. austroasiana include annual, resupinate basidiomata, a hydnoid hymenophore, 2-3 spines per mm, the presence of tubular cystidia of 20-25 x 3-3.5 mu m, oblong ellipsoid basidiospores of 4.4-5.2 x 2.1-3 mu m, and growth on angiosperm wood in tropical forests in the southern Yunnan Province. The phylogenetic analyses based on the combined 2-locus dataset (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) + nuclear large subunit RNA (nLSU)) confirm the placement of two new species, respectively, in Hermanssonia and Phlebia s. lato. Phylogenetically, the closely-related species to these two new species are discussed.

Automated summary

Two new wood-inhabiting fungi, Hermanssonia fimbriata sp. nov. and Phlebia austroasiana sp. nov., have been described and illustrated from southwestern China. The characteristics and growth habitats of these fungi are discussed, and their phylogenetic placement within their respective genera is confirmed.