XVI International Botanical Congess

Hymenophore pore layer presence-absence is a major feature of generic descriptions in the Hymenochaetaceae, morphologies vary from corticoid Hymenochaete to poroid Phellinus. We tested if this reflects true monophyly of lineages in this family. DNA-based phylogenetic inference of species in the Hymenochaetaceae showed Phellinus ralunensis (the sole Phellinus to form dendrohyphidia) to be more closely related to Cyclomyces iodinus (an annual poroid species without dendrohyphidia) than to other Phellinus species. Both are similar macroscopically and appear to be related to Hymenochaete pinnatifida, a cosmopolitan resupinate species that forms dendrohyphidia. Included, but as yet unresolved, was H. dendroidea, a dendrohyphidia-forming species that resembles P. ralunensis, but lacks a pore layer. Thus, poroid hymenophore evolution does not appear to be monophyletic in this family.