Skeletocutis nothofagi

Skeletocutis nothofagi is a rare species of poroid crust fungus in the family Polyporaceae that is found in South America. It has been proposed for inclusion in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to its highly restricted distribution and rare occurrence.[1]

Skeletocutis nothofagi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Fungi
Division:
Basidiomycota
Class:
Agaricomycetes
Order:
Polyporales
Family:
Polyporaceae
Genus:
Skeletocutis
Species:
S. nothofagi
Binomial name
Skeletocutis nothofagi
Rajchenb. (2001)

Taxonomy

Skeletocutis nothofagi was described as a new species in 2001 by Argentinian mycologist Mario Rajchenberg. The holotype collection was made in Tierra del Fuego in 1999, where the fungus was found on a fallen branch of Nothofagus betuloides. The specific epithet nothofagi refers to this host.[2]

Description

Fruit bodies of the fungus grow initially as small, roundish bodies that may later coalesce, reaching sizes of up to 10 cm (3.9 in) by 3 cm (1.2 in) by 0.5 cm (0.2 in) thick. The colour of the pore surface is white to cream, with the pore tubes yellowing somewhat after drying. The sterile margin is cream coloured, and has a felty texture that is more prominent if viewed with a hand lens. The pores are circular to wavy in outline, and number between 2.5 and 4 per millimetre.[2]

The fungus has a monomitic hyphal system, and the generative hyphae have clamps. Spores are somewhat allantoid (sausage-shaped) to cylindrical, measuring 4.5–5.5 by 1.7–2 μm.[2]

References
  1. Rachenberg, Mario. "Skeletocutis nothofagi Rajchenb". The Global Fungal Red List Initiative. IUCN. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  2. Rajchenberg, Mario (2001). "A new species and new records of polypore fungi from the Patagonian Andes forests of Argentina". Mycotaxon. 77: 93–100.
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