Taxonomy and phylogeny of poroid Hymenochaetaceae based on the most comprehensive phylogenetic analyses are presented. A phylogeny based on a combined dataset of ITS and nLSU sequences for accepted genera of Hymenochaetaceae was analyzed and two or multigene phylogenies for most species of ten large genera including Coltricia, Fomitiporella, Fomitiporia, Fulvifomes, Fuscoporia, Inonotus, Phylloporia, Porodaedalea, Sanghuangporus and Tropicoporus, were carried out. Based on samples from 37 countries of five continents, seven new genera, Meganotus, Neophellinus, Nothonotus, Pachynotus, Perenninotus, Pseudophylloporia and Rigidonotus, are introduced, 37 new species, Coltricia tibetica, Fomitiporella crassa, F. queenslandica, Fomitiporia eucalypti, F. gatesii, F. ovoidospora, Fulvifomes azonatus, F. caligoporus, F. costaricense, F. floridanus, F. jouzaii, F. nakasoneae, F. subindicus, Fuscoporia sinuosa, F. submurina, Inonotus subradiatus, I. vietnamensis, Neomensularia castanopsidis, Pachynotus punctatus, Phellinus cuspidatus, P. subellipsoideus, Phylloporia minutissima, P. tabernaemontanae, Porodaedalea occidentiamericana, P. orientoamericana, P. qilianensis, P. schrenkianae, Pseudophylloporia australiana, Sanghuangporus australianus, S. lagerstroemiae, Tropicoporus angustisulcatus, T. hainanicus, T. lineatus, T. minus, T. ravidus, T. substratificans and T. tenuis, are described, and 108 new combinations are proposed. In addition, one illegitimate name and two invalid names are renamed, and Coltricia and Coltriciella were synonymized. The taxonomic relevance and limits of the new taxa are discussed. Photos and illustrations for 37 new species are presented, and a full description for each new species is given. Eventually, this study recognizes 672 species in 34 genera and provides a modern treatment of the poroid Hymenochaetaceae in the world. A key to the accepted poroid genera of Hymenochaetaceae is provided, and identification keys to the accepted species of 32 poroid genera worldwide are given. A synopsis description of each species is included in these keys.

The huge land areas in China provide highly diverse habitats for macrofungi. Of these macrofungi, many are directly related to people’s daily life and have been utilized by ancient Chinese for at least 6800 years. In this study, we evaluate the current known resource diversity of Chinese macrofungi. A total of 1662 taxa are summarized, and all species names and their authorities have been checked and corrected according to authentic mycological databases. Among the 1662 taxa, 1020, 692, and 480 are considered to be edible, medicinal and poisonous mushrooms, respectively. A few of edible macrofungi in China are commonly used for commercial production. All known medicinal functions are labeled for medicinal species. The most common medicinal functions possessed by Chinese macrofungi are antitumor or anticancer, followed by antioxidant and antimicrobial. A total of 277 Chinese macrofungi are edible simultaneously with certain medicinal functions and without known toxicity. These species could be treated as “Gold Mushrooms”. Contrarily, 193 edible and/or medicinal species are also recognized as poisonous mushrooms. To avoid poisoning caused by these species, ingestion either in a proper way or in small amounts is important. However, the mycotoxins metabolized by these poisonous species could be a huge wealth of natural products yet to be explored. How to utilize these Chinese macrofungal resources is a critical to benefit humans worldwide.

An account of the Chinese species of Hymenochaetaceae based on most recent phylogenetic analysis is presented. One hundred and seventy species from 23 genera are recognized; descriptions are provided based on the Chinese collections. Keys to genera and species are given. Phellinopsis gen. nov. is introduced. Coltricia abieticola sp. nov., Coltricia crassa sp. nov., Coltricia macropora sp. nov., Coltricia spina sp. nov., Coltriciella subglobosa sp. nov., Fuscoporia yunnanensis sp. nov. and Inonotus magnisetus sp. nov. are described here as new. Eighteen new combinations, Fulvifomes cesatii, F. chinensis, F. collinus, F. glaucescens, F. inermis, F. johnsonianus, F. kanehirae, F. macgregorii, F. minisporus, F. pullus, F. umbrinellus, Fuscoporia setifera, Inonotus lonicericola, I. tricolor, Phellinopsis conchata, P. occidentalis, Porodaedalea himalayensis and P. yamanoi are proposed. The taxonomy of all species is discussed. Spore dimensions given in this study derive from at least 30 spores of each species, and 10 386 spores were measured from 347 specimens. Two thousand specimens were examined, and they are listed after each species. Colour photos for 140 species are supplied.This report provides a modern treatment of the Hymenochaetaceae of China. To further support the results of morphology, nuclear large subunit (nuc-LSU) sequences from some typical species were selected to reconstruct their phylogeny.

Polyporaceae is one of the most important families of Basidiomycota. Investigations on the species diversity, taxonomy and phylogeny of Polyporaceae in China are carried out. So far 217 species belonging to 42 genera are reported from China. Two new genera: Amylosporia gen. nov. and Murinicarpus gen. nov., twelve new species: Coriolopsis dendriformis sp. nov., C. hainanensis sp. nov., Funalia cystidiata sp. nov., Haploporus microsporus sp. nov., Perenniporia citrinoalba sp. nov., P. yinggelingensis sp. nov., Picipes hainanensis sp. nov., P. jiajinensis sp. nov., P. pseudovarius sp. nov., Trametes duplexa sp. nov., T. ellipsoidea sp. nov. and T. stiptica sp. nov., and six new combinations, Amylosporia hattorii comb. nov., Hornodermoporus latissimus comb. nov., Murinicarpus subadustus comb. nov., Picipes pumilus comb. nov., Vanderbylia delavayi comb. nov. and Vanderbylia robiniophila comb. nov., are proposed. All the species are described based on the Chinese collections. Keys to genera of Polyporaceae occurring in China and keys to species of each genus are provided. This monograph provides a revised classification of Polyporaceae in China according to the modern taxonomy. The phylogeny of Polyporaceae from China are reconstructed based on DNA sequences of multiple loci including the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, the large subunit nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nLSU), the small subunit nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nSSU), the small subunit mitochondrial rRNA gene sequences (mtSSU), the translation elongation factor 1-α gene (TEF1), the β-tubulin gene (TBB1), the RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RPB1) and second largest subunit (RPB2) genes. In addition, full morphological descriptions, illustrations, color photographs, taxonomic notes, ecology and all the available sequences of Polyporaceae species found from China are provided.

This report is a comprehensive review of polypore investigations in China up to 2011. Nearly 12,000 polypore specimens have been collected from almost all forest types in China during the past 20 years. After examination of these and other herbarium specimens, 704 polypore species belonging to 132 genera in ten orders were identified, and the majority of them found to belong in the orders Polyporales (accounting for 65% of the total Chinese polypores) and Hymenochaetales (25%). According to the author's investigations, 148 species are boreal, 390 are temperate, 395 are subtropical, and 220 are tropical in distribution. The majority of the Chinese polypores are white rot fungi, whereas 98 species (14%) cause a brown rot; 520 species (74%) were found on angiosperm wood, of which 434 species (62%) grew exclusively on angiosperm wood; 459 species (65%) were found on fallen trunks, which seem to be the most frequent substrate for polypores. Based on field investigations and collections, 223, 267, and 214 species are considered as common, occasional, and rare, respectively, and they subsequently account for 32%, 38%, and 30% of the total Chinese polypores. The host, substratum, distribution, and occurrence of each species are listed.

“Lingzhi” is a mushroom that has been renowned in China for more than 2,000 years because of its claimed medicinal properties plus its symbolic fortune. “Lingzhi” has high economic value mostly as a dietary supplement in the modern market especially in East Asia, and its medicinal functions have become a hot study topic. For over a century, the highly prized medicinal fungus, known as “Lingzhi” in East Asia, has been assigned to Ganoderma lucidum, a species originally described from Europe. Molecular studies in recent years have revealed that the commercially cultivated ‘G. lucidum’ (“Lingzhi”) in East Asia is a different species from the true G. lucidum. The present study aims to clarify the species identity of “Lingzhi” based on morphological studies and analysis of rDNA nuc-ITS sequences, and additional gene fragments of mt-SSU, RPB1, RPB2, and TEF1-α of “Lingzhi” were provided. All Ganoderma species that mostly resemble “Lingzhi” in phylogeny and /or morphology were included for analysis. We propose a new species G. lingzhi for “Lingzhi”, which has an East Asia distribution. The most striking characteristics which differentiate G. lingzhi from G. lucidum are the presence of melanoid bands in the context, a yellow pore surface and thick dissepiments (80–120 μm) at maturity. G. curtisii is most closely related to G. lingzhi in phylogeny and is from North America. Ganoderma flexipes, G. multipileum, G. sichuanense, G. tropicum and ‘G. tsugae’, are also closely related with G. lingzhi and are reported from China. These species are compared and discussed. ‘Ganoderma tsuage’ reported from China is determined as conspecific with G. lucidum, hence the distribution of G. lucidum extends from Europe to northeastern China.