''Bankera'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of four species of

tooth fungi The hydnoid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota with basidiocarps (fruit bodies) producing spores on pendant, tooth-like or spine-like projections. They are colloquially called tooth fungi. Originally such fungi were referred to the ge ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Bankeraceae The ''Bankeraceae'' are a family of fungi in the order Thelephorales. Taxa are terrestrial, and ectomycorrhizal with plant species in families such as Pinaceae or Fagaceae. The family was circumscribed by Marinus Anton Donk in 1961. According t ...

. The genus was first

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

in 1951 by

William Chambers Coker William Chambers Coker (October 24, 1872 – June 26, 1953) was an American botanist and mycologist. Biography He was born at Hartsville, South Carolina on October 24, 1872. He graduated from South Carolina College in 1894 and took postgradua ...

and Alma Holland Beers, but this publication was

invalid Invalid may refer to: * Patient, a sick person * one who is confined to home or bed because of illness, disability or injury (sometimes considered a politically incorrect term) * Invalid (film), a 2023 Slovak black comedy movie * .invalid, a top-l ...

according to the rules of botanical nomenclature. It was later published validly by

Zdeněk Pouzar Zdeněk Pouzar (13 April 1932 – 4 June 2023) was a Czech mycologist. Along with František Kotlaba, he published several works about the taxonomy of polypore, corticioid, and gilled fungi. Pouzar was a noted expert on stromatic pyrenomycetes ...

in 1955. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is '' B. fuligineoalba''. The genus is

ectomycorrhiza An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobio ...

l with

gymnosperm The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetoph ...

s, usually with trees from the

pine family The Pinaceae (), or pine family, are conifer trees or shrubs, including many of the well-known conifers of commercial importance such as cedars, firs, hemlocks, piñons, larches, pines and spruces. The family is included in the order Pinales ...

. Fruitbodies of ''Bankera'' species are fleshy, usually with a centrally-placed stipe, and greyish-brown spines on the hymenial undersurface. The texture of the

flesh Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscles, fats and other loose connective tissues, ...

ranges from soft to tough, but it lacks the zones associated with some other Bankeraceae genera. Dried flesh often has a

fenugreek Fenugreek (; ''Trigonella foenum-graecum'') is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small Glossary_of_leaf_morphology#Leaf_and_leaflet_shapes, obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiar ...

odor.

Spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plant ...

range in shape from more or less spherical to

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...

, and are

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from , and . Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is named after its glassy appearance on fresh gross pathology. On light microscopy of H&E stained slides, the extracellula ...

(translucent), with thin walls. In deposit, they are white. ''Bankera'' has a monomitic

hypha A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one o ...

l system with brownish to hyaline, inflated generative hyphae. In 2013, based on

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

and morphological evidence, Richard Baird proposed that the type species ''Bankera fuligineoalba'' be transferred into the genus ''

Phellodon ''Phellodon'' is a genus of tooth fungi in the family Bankeraceae. Species have small- to medium-sized fruitbodies with white spines on the underside from which spores are released. All ''Phellodon'' have a short stalk or stipe, and so the g ...

'', as ''Phellodon fuligineoalbus''.

Species

*''

Bankera cinerea ''Bankera'' is a genus of four species of hydnoid fungi, tooth fungi in the family (biology), family Bankeraceae. The genus was first circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 1951 by William Chambers Coker and Alma Holland Beers, but this pub ...

'' *'' Bankera fuligineoalba'' *'' Bankera mollis'' *'' Bankera violascens''

References

Agaricomycetes genera Thelephorales Thelephorales genera {{Agaricomycetes-stub