Strobilomyces is a genus of boletes (mushrooms having a spongy mass of pores under the cap). The only well-known European species is the type species S. strobilaceus (also named S. floccopus), known in English as "old man of the woods".
Members of the genus can be distinguished by the following characteristics: the cap and stipe are covered in soft hairy or woolly scales, while most boletes have smooth elongated spores, those of Strobilomyces are roughly spherical and prominently ornamented, and as might be expected from its "dry" fibrous appearance, it is resistant to decay (whereas most mushrooms in the Boletaceae are soft and decompose notoriously rapidly).
Taxonomy and classification
The genus name comes from the Ancient Greek word Strobilos (στρόβιλος), meaning "pine cone", a reference to the appearance of S. strobilaceus. The ending "-myces" is a standard suffix meaning "mushroom" (Ancient Greek: μύкης). In some older classification systems it is assigned to a separate family Strobilomycetaceae,McNabb R.F.R. (1967) The Strobilomycataceae of New Zealand gives a history of the family. but more recent phylogenetic evidence merges it into the larger family Boletaceae (suborder Boletineae). These results corroborate older DNA analyses by K. Høiland (1987), which suggested that Strobilomyces is only distantly related to more familiar boletes such as Suillus, but was in fact more closely related to the Earth Balls (Scleroderma).Høiland K. (1987). "A new approach to the phylogeny of the order Boletales (Basidiomycotina)". Nordic Journal of Botany 7: 705–718. See this web page for more details.
Many more species have been discovered in warmer countries. The mycologist E. J. H. Corner described several new species from Malaysia including S. foveatus. According to recent estimates, about 40 species are known.
List of species Strobilomyces alpinus — Yunnan province, China Strobilomyces annulatus — Malaysia Strobilomyces areolatus — China Strobilomyces atrosquamosus — China Strobilomyces benoisii Strobilomyces camphoratus Strobilomyces coccineus Strobilomyces confusus — East Asia, North AmericaChen Chien-Ming 1994 Novel and new records published by T.E.S.R.I (Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute) (choice edible) Strobilomyces dryophilus — (United States) Strobilomyces echinatus Strobilomyces echinocephalus — China Strobilomyces excavatus Strobilomyces foveatus — (Malaysia) Strobilomyces fusisporus Strobilomyces giganteus — Sichuan province, China Strobilomyces gilbertianus — Democratic Republic of the Congo Strobilomyces glabellus — Yunnan province, China Strobilomyces glabriceps — China Strobilomyces hongoi — Japan Strobilomyces hydriensis Strobilomyces latirimosus — Guangxi province, China Strobilomyces ligulatus Strobilomyces mirandus — Malaysia Strobilomyces mollis — Malaysia Strobilomyces nigricans — East Asia, North America Strobilomyces pallescens Strobilomyces parvirimosus — Yunnan province, China Strobilomyces polypyramis — Malaysia Strobilomyces porphyrius Strobilomyces retisporus Strobilomyces rufescens Strobilomyces sanmingensis — China Strobilomyces seminudus — Japan, China Strobilomyces strobilaceus = S. floccopus — Asia, North America, Europe Strobilomyces subnigricans — Hubei province, China Strobilomyces subnudus — Jiangsu province, China Strobilomyces velutinus — Yunnan province, China Strobilomyces velutipes — Australia, Malaysia Strobilomyces verruculosus – Japan Strobilomyces zangii — China
References
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