A high species diversity of Lyomyces (Basidiomycota, Hymenochaetales) in Central and South America, revealed after morphological and molecular analysis.

A study of corticioid fungi collections from Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador has resulted in the identification of 26 morphospecies of Lyomyces. These distinctions were made based on characters such as basidiospore size and shape, cystidia morphology, basidioma texture, and hymenial surface configuration. Sequences of rDNA ITS were obtained for 12 of these species, and their relationships to previously known taxa were illustrated using Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood reconstructions of the phylogeny. Protologues are given for 10 new species of Lyomyces: L.boquetensis (found in Panama, belonging to L.sambuci group), L.granulosus (from Costa Rica and Panama, related to L.fimbriatus), L.napoensis (from Ecuador, related to L.elaeidicola), L.neocrustosus (from Panama, L.crustosus group), L.oleifer (from Ecuador, L.crustosus group), L.pantropicus (from Panama and Ecuador, related to L.microfasciculatus), L.orarius (from Ecuador, L.sambuci group), L.parvus (from Costa Rica and Ecuador, L.crustosus group), L.sceptrifer (from Ecuador, related to L.gatesiae), and L.subcylindricus (from Panama, L.crustosus group). Macro- and micro-morphology illustrations are provided for these new species. Additionally, the range of L.organensis is extended to Ecuador. Scanning electron microscopy of crystalline deposits in basidiomata has shown the differences in crystal size and aggregation manner between species.