Phytotaxa 265 (1): 027–038 http://www.mapress.com/j/pt/ Copyright © 2016 Magnolia Press Article PHYTOTAXA ISSN 1179-3155 (print edition) ISSN 1179-3163 (online edition) Accepted by Genevieve Gates: 16 May 2016; published: 9 Jun. 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.265.1.2 27 Thelephora dominicana (Basidiomycota, Thelephorales), a new species from the Dominican Republic, and preliminary notes on thelephoroid genera ALFREDO VIZZINI 1* , CLAUDIO ANGELINI 2 , CRISTIANO LOSI 3 & ENRICO ERCOLE 1 1 Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Viale P.A. Mattioli 25, I-10125 Torino, Italy 2 Herbario Jardín Botánico Nacional Dr. Rafael Ma. Moscoso, Apartado 21-9, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic & Via Tulipifero 9 - 33080, Porcia (PN), Italy 3 Canaregio, 3608 – 30121 Venezia, Italy * Corresponding author: alfredo.vizzini@unito.it Abstract A new species of Thelephora, characterized by more or less infundibuliform basidiomes and globose to subglobose strongly echinulate basidiospores, is described from the Dominican Republic based on morphological and molecular data (analyses of LSU and ITS sequences). Phylogenetic insights on genera in the Thelephorales are also provided. Key words: Agaricomycetes, Thelephoraceae, thelephoroid fungi, Caribbean Islands, Taxonomy Introduction Thelephoroid fungi, corresponding to the Thelephoroid clade (Larsson et al. 2004; Binder et al. 2005) and to the order Thelephorales Corner ex Oberw. (1976: 361), include a total of about 270 accepted species that are accommodated in 18 genera (Kirk et al. 2008) and two families (Stalpers 1993): the Bankeraceae Donk (1961: 405), mostly with colourless spores and pileate basidiomes and the Thelephoraceae Chevall. (1826: 84), mostly with yellowish to brown spores and resupinate basidiomes. In general, the Thelephorales consists of species with strongly ornamented, non-amyloid spores with a large apiculus and often dark-coloured basidiomes. The presence of thelephoric acid, that turns blue-green in KOH, appears to be a shared character for the group (Donk 1964; Bresinsky & Rennschmid 1971; Oberwinkler 1977; Gill & Steglich 1987; Velíšek & Cejpek 2011). The group is rather diverse regarding shape of the basidiomes and contains corticioid, cantharelloid, clavarioid, and pileate forms. Hymenophores may be poroid, irpicoid, lamellate, hydnoid, odontoid, or smooth (Stalpers 1993; Kõljalg 1996; Hibbett et al. 2014). Thelephoroid fungi are cosmopolitan (Cunningham 1957; Corner 1968; Maas Geesteranus 1971, 1975; Stalpers 1993; Kõljalg 1996; Yorou et al. 2012), and they have been frequently reported from Europe, North America and temperate Asia with highest species richness in coniferous forests (Svrček 1960; Larsen 1965, 1968, 1974; Wakefield 1966, 1969; Kõljalg 1996; Kõljalg et al. 2000; Dämmrich 2006). Thelephoroid fungi from tropical America and Africa are poorly documented in general (Patouillard 1897; Corner 1966, 1968, 1976; Wakefield 1966; Malençon 1952, 1954; Hjortstam & Ryvarden 1988, 1995; Martini & Hentic 2002, 2005; Tedersoo et al. 2007; Yorou 2008; Yorou & Agerer 2007, 2008; Yorou et al. 2007; Grupe et al. 2015). Most members of the Thelephorales, with the exception of Lenzitopsis Malençon & Bertault (1963: 82), Amaurodon J. Schröt. (1888: 461) (Zhou & Kõljalg 2013) and Odontia Pers. (1794: 110) (Tedersoo et al. 2014) form ectomycorrhizal associations and are often dominant components of mycorrhizal communities of boreal and temperate forests (Bruns et al. 1998; Colpaert 1999; Erland & Taylor 1999; Kõljalg et al. 2000, 2002; Horton & Bruns 2001; Sirikantaramas et al. 2003; Tedersoo et al. 2006, 2010; Peay et al. 2010). The family Thelephoraceae comprises 12 genera with effused, effuse-reflexed, resupinate, apodal pileate basidiomes and colourless to strongly pigmented, warted to typically echinulate basidiospores with an uneven outline (Corner 1968; Stalpers 1993; Kõljalg 1996; Larsen 1968, 1974; Dämmrich 2006). Within the Thelephoraceae, the genus Thelephora Ehrh. ex Willd. (1787: 396), monographed by Corner (1968, 1976) has a mainly northern temperate distribution and is poorly studied in tropical ecosystems (Corner 1968; Ramírez- López et al. 2015). It is characterized by diverse forms of basidiomes: clavarioid, cantharelloid, spathulate, pleuropodal