Key to Byssocorticium

Overview

Byssocorticium is a genus in the family Byssocorticiaceae, order Atheliales. Their basidiomata are characterized by a bluish coloration and an even hymenophore with a thin construction and a byssoid to pellicular texture. Microscopically, they are monomitic, with simple septa or clamp connections. The subicular hyphae branch at right angles. Cystidia are absent. Basidia are more or less clavate, sometimes with lipid contents. The basidiospores are typically globose to subglobose, sometimes broadly ellipsoid, navicular, or tapered; smooth, inamyloid, and indextrinoid. While widely documented on platforms such as iNaturalist, Byssocorticium is rarely collected and even less frequently sequenced. Species are distinguished by basidiocarp color, the presence of clamp connections, and spore size.

Accepted Species

  1. Byssocorticium atrovirens
  2. Byssocorticium caeruleum
  3. Byssocorticium californicum
  4. Byssocorticium efibulatum
  5. Byssocorticium naviculare
  6. Byssocorticium neomexicanum
  7. Byssocorticium pulchrum

Dichotomous Key

1. Clamps present 2

1. Clamps absent 3

2. Spores 3–4 µm in diameter B. atrovirens

2. Spores 5–6 µm in diameter B. pulchrum

3. Basidiocarp greyish blue or greyish violaceous, spores tapering at both ends, 5.0–7.0 µm ✕ 2.5–3.5 µm B. neomexicanum

3. Basidiocarp a different shade of blue (including greenish blue) 4

4. Spores navicular, thick-walled, 6.0–6.5 µm ✕ 3.0–3.25 µm B. naviculare

4. Spores smaller 5

5. Spores globose to subglobose, 4.5–5.5 µm in diameter B. caeruleum

5. Spores smaller 6

6. Spores globose to subglobose, 3.5–4.0 µm in diameter B. efibulatum

6. Spores broadly ellipsoid, 3.5–4.2 ✕ 2.5–3.2 µm B. californicum

References

Bernicchia, A. & Gorjón, S. P. (2010). Fungi Europaei, Volume 12: Corticiaceae s.l. Massimo Candusso, Italia.

Gilbertson, R. L. & Budington, A.B. (1970). Three new species of wood-rotting fungi in the Corticiaceae. Mycologia, 62(4):673–678.

Hjortstam, K. & Ryvarden, R. (1982). Aphyllophorales from Northern Thailand. Nordic Journal of Botany, 2(3): 273–81.

Jülich, W. (1972). Monographie der Athelieae. Willdenowia, Beiheft 7. 1-283

Jülich, W. & Stalpers, J. A. (1980). The Resupinate Non-poroid Aphyllophorales of the Temperate Northern Hemisphere. North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, Oxford, New York.

Kotiranta, H., Larsson, K.-H., Saarenoksa, R., & Kulju, M. (2011). Tretomyces gen. novum, Byssocorticium caeruleum sp. nova, and new combinations in Dendrothele and Pseudomerulius (Basidiomycota). Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board, 48(1), 37–48.