Lentinus polychrous

Lentinus polychrous Lév.

Index Fungorum number: IF197977; Facesoffungi number: FoF 02273

Pileus 30–70 mm diam., convex to applanate, deeply depressed at the center, with concentrically fibrillose squamules at the center toward margin, yellowish brown (5E4–8) to brown (6E6–8), with yellowish white to pale yellow (4A2–3) background; margin split when mature, with concolorous fibrillose squamules as in pileus. Lamellae decurrent, yellowish brown (5E4–8) to brown (6E6–8), narrowed, 1–2 mm wide, with smooth margin. Stipe central to lateral, 4–7× 10–20 mm, equal with crowded fibrillose, concolorous with pileus. Annnuls absent. Context white at pileus and stipe, fleshy–tough to leathery. Odor and taste not observed. Spore print white Hyphal system at tramal structure dimitic with generative hyphae and skeletal–ligative hyphae; generative hyphae thick–walled, hyaline, with clamp connection, up to 9 µm wide, long cylindrical with wider near apex zone, with attenuate apex, up to 20 µm wide; skeletal hyphae– ligative hyphae ticked–walled, hyaline, up to 15 µm wide, very long and with 2–3 lateral branches, attenuate to apex. Hyphae at pileus not observed. Basidiospores 6.5–8.5 × 3–3.5 µm, oblong to cylindrical, thin–walled, hyaline, non–dextrinoid. Basidia 20–25 × 4–7 µm, long clavate with very narrow to base, thin–walled, hyaline, 4–spored. Cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia not observed.

Habitat and distribution: grow on dead wood in small groups with few to several fruit bodies. It is mostly found in dry dipterocarp forests in all parts of Thailand (Chandrasrikul et al. 2011).

Material examined: Thailand; Chiang Rai Province, Muang District, Mae Khao Tom, 12 July 2018, P. Sysouphanthong, PS2018–48 (MFLU22–0030); Chiang Rai Province, Muang District, Mae Khao Tom, 12 July 2018, Ladtana Keokaenngeun, LK44 (MFLU22–0031).

Notes: Lentinus polychrous is recognized by pale yellow to brown fibrillose to fibrillose squamules on pileus, yellowish brown to brown lamellae, central to lateral stipe attachment, absence of annulus. Two specimens in this study are identical to those specimens from Malaysia and Thailand (Fig. 1). In Thailand, Lentinus polychrous was reported in all parts of Thailand as L. praerigidus Berk (Chandrasrikul et al. 2011, Phanichapol 1968, Høiland & Schumecher 1982, Pukahuta et al. 2008). The species is generally cultivated and sold in markets (Thawthong et al. 2014). Lentinus polychrous is a tropical species, and it was originally described from Sumatra Island, Indonesia (Léveillé 1844). It was also found in India (Natarajan & Manjula 1978), Laos (Lee et al. 2021), Malaysia (Bolhassan et al. 2012), Philippines (Graff 1992), and Thailand as L. praerigidus Berk (Chandrasrikul et al. 2011, Phanichapol 1968, Pukahuta et al. 2008). This species is mostly distributed in South– and Southeast Asia, and it might exist in tropical areas of Africa and South America with other names, but literature is currently not available.

Fig. 1 Maximum likelihood tree of Lentinus based on ITS–LSU sequences. The taxa in blue are specimens from Thailand. Support values of ML and MP≥70% and BI ≥ 0.95 are indicated on the nodes. Specimen voucher numbers are indicated after species names. Ganoderma boninense Pat. was used as the outgroup.