''Cymatoderma'' is a widely distributed

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of poroid fungi in the family

Meruliaceae The Meruliaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 47 genera and 420 species. , Index Fungorum accepts 645 species in the family. Taxonomy The family was formally circumscribed by E ...

Description

The

fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life c ...

of ''Cymatoderma'' fungi are typically funnel-shaped, fan-shaped, or semicircular. Fruit bodies growing next to each other can fuse together. The upper surface of the

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

often has sharp ridges, although in some species this is partially obscured by a thick tomentum with a texture like felt. The fertile surface of the

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others som ...

(

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual 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 plants, algae, ...

-bearing surface) is generally covered with folds, undulations, or ridges, which can be in turn by smooth, warted, or spiky. The stipe ranges from well-developed in some species to barely present in others.

Taxonomy

''Cymatoderma'' was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every po ...

by botanist

Friedrich Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn Friedrich Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn was a German botanist and geologist. His father, Friedrich Junghuhn was a barber and a surgeon. His mother was Christine Marie Schiele. Junghuhn studied medicine in Halle and in Berlin from 1827 to 1831, meanwhile ...

in 1842, with '' Cymatoderma elegans'' as the

type species In 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 species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

. ''

Cymatoderma dendriticum ''Cymatoderma'' is a widely distributed genus of polypore, poroid fungi in the family Meruliaceae. Description The basidiocarp, fruit bodies of ''Cymatoderma'' fungi are typically funnel-shaped, fan-shaped, or semicircular. Fruit bodies growing ...

'', originally described by

Christiaan Hendrik Persoon Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1 February 1761 – 16 November 1836) was a German mycologist who made additions to Linnaeus' mushroom taxonomy. Early life Persoon was born in South Africa at the Cape of Good Hope, the third child of an immi ...

as ''Thelephora dendritica'' in 1827, is perhaps the earliest description of any ''Cymatoderma'' in the literature. In 1842,

Miles Joseph Berkeley Miles Joseph Berkeley (1 April 1803 – 30 July 1889) was an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology. Life Berkeley was born at Biggin Hall, Benefield, Northamptonshire, and educated a ...

transferred ''Thelephora dendritica'' to the genus ''Cladoderris''. Despite Junghuhn's earlier publication, this species became more commonly (and incorrectly) referred to as ''Cladoderris dendritica'' in its early history. This led to a number of

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are ...

created and a confusing taxonomy. It did not help that the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

material of several species, located in the Berlin herbarium, was destroyed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Marinus Anton Donk Marinus Anton Donk (14 August 1908 – 2 September 1972) was a Dutch mycologist. He specialized in the taxonomy and nomenclature of mushrooms. Rolf Singer wrote in his obituary that he was "one of the most outstanding figures of contemporary mycol ...

proposed to

conserve Conserve may refer to: * Conserve (condiment), a preserve made from a mixture of fruits or vegetables * Conserve (NGO), an Indian environmental organization * Conserve (publisher), a Dutch publisher * Conserved sequence, a protein or nucleic acid ...

the more popular name ''Cladoderris'' against the earlier ''Cymatoderma'', but this was rejected by the authorities on Fungus nomenclature. Today, the name ''Cladoderris'' is placed in synonymy with ''Cymatoderma'', as well as the names ''Actinostroma'', ''Beccariella'', and ''Beccaria''.

Classification

''Cymatoderma'' has traditionally been classified in the family

Molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis revealed that ''Cymatoderma'' is

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

, with some species related to '' Podoscypha'', and another group, including the type species, grouped together in a distant location in the residual clade of the Polyporales. In a recently proposed family-level classification of the Polyporales, Alfredo Justo and colleagues proposed to include these latter ''Cymatoderma'' species (''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

'') in the new family Panaceae. Species closely related to ''Podoscypha'', including ''

'' and '' C. pallens'', are better classified in the family

Podoscyphaceae The Polyporales are an order of about 1800 species of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. The order includes some (but not all) polypores as well as many corticioid fungi and a few agarics (mainly in the genus ''Lentinus''). Many species within ...

Species

A 2008 estimate placed nine species in the genus. ,

Index Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and the Institute of M ...

accepts 14 species in ''Cymatoderma'': *'' Cymatoderma africanum'' Boidin (1960) – Cameroon; Ivory Coast; Zambia *'' Cymatoderma blumei'' (Lév.) D.A.Reid (1959) – Indonesia *''

Cymatoderma caperatum ''Cymatoderma caperatum'' is a fungus species in the family Meruliaceae. It was originally species description, described in 1849 as a species of ''Thelephora'' by Miles Joseph Berkeley and Camille Montagne. Derek Reid transferred it to ''Cymatod ...

'' (Berk. & Mont.) D.A.Reid (1956) – Australia; North America; South America *''

'' (Pers.) D.A.Reid (1959) – Africa; South America; Papua New Guinea *'' Cymatoderma elegans'' Jungh. (1840) – Africa; South America; Papua New Guinea *'' Cymatoderma fuscum'' (Cooke) D.A.Reid (1959) *'' Cymatoderma hainanense'' Z.T.Guo (1986) – China *''

Cymatoderma infundibuliforme ''Cymatoderma'' is a widely distributed genus of polypore, poroid fungi in the family Meruliaceae. Description The basidiocarp, fruit bodies of ''Cymatoderma'' fungi are typically funnel-shaped, fan-shaped, or semicircular. Fruit bodies growing ...

'' (Klotzsch) Boidin (1959) – Philippines; Sierra Leone *''

Cymatoderma pallens ''Cymatoderma'' is a widely distributed genus of poroid fungi in the family Meruliaceae. Description The fruit bodies of ''Cymatoderma'' fungi are typically funnel-shaped, fan-shaped, or semicircular. Fruit bodies growing next to each other ca ...

'' Berthet & Boidin (1966) – Cameroon *'' Cymatoderma plicatum'' (Lloyd) D.A.Reid (1959) *''

Cymatoderma sclerotioides ''Cymatoderma'' is a widely distributed genus of poroid fungi in the family Meruliaceae. Description The fruit bodies of ''Cymatoderma'' fungi are typically funnel-shaped, fan-shaped, or semicircular. Fruit bodies growing next to each other ca ...

'' (Lloyd) D.A.Reid (1959) *''

Cymatoderma semiresupinatum ''Cymatoderma'' is a widely distributed genus of polypore, poroid fungi in the family Meruliaceae. Description The basidiocarp, fruit bodies of ''Cymatoderma'' fungi are typically funnel-shaped, fan-shaped, or semicircular. Fruit bodies growing ...

'' (A.L.Welden) A.L.Welden (2010) *'' Cymatoderma venezuelae'' D.A.Reid (1965) – South America *''

Cymatoderma viridans ''Cymatoderma'' is a widely distributed genus of poroid fungi in the family Meruliaceae. Description The fruit bodies of ''Cymatoderma'' fungi are typically funnel-shaped, fan-shaped, or semicircular. Fruit bodies growing next to each other ca ...

'' (Lloyd) A.L.Welden (2010) An earlier member of this genus, ''Cymatoderma cristatum'', has since been transferred to '' Podoscypha'' as ''

Podoscypha cristata ''Podoscypha'' is a genus of fungi in the family Meruliaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in tropical regions, and contains about 35 species. Species *''Podoscypha aculeata'' (Berk. & M.A.Curtis) Boidin (1959) *''Podoscyph ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5199388 Taxa described in 1840 Meruliaceae Polyporales genera Taxa named by Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn