Reinstatement of the corticioid genus Leifia (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota) with a new species L.brevispora from Hubei, Central China

Abstract. The monotypic genus Leifia was previously considered to be a later synonym of Odonticium. With the morphological and phylogenetic evidence provided by an additional four East Asian specimens, we propose to reinstate Leifia as an independent genus in Hymenochaetales. Leifia morphologically differs from Odonticium by its grandinioid hymenophore with hyphal strands, numerous thick-walled cystidia with an invaginated apical end and narrowly and thick-walled basidia. The phylogeny generated from the current data set of ITS and 28S regions indicates that Leifia forms a sister clade to Odonticium. Besides the generic type Leifiaflabelliradiata in the Leifia clade, two specimens, collected from Hubei, Central China, are newly introduced as Leifiabrevispora. This new species is the second species of Leifia and differs from the generic type by its shorter basidiospores and distribution in warm-temperate to subtropical areas in East Asia. The additional two specimens, collected from Da Lat, Viet Nam, differ morphologically, both from each other and from known species of Leifia, but more samples need to be examined before further taxonomic decisions can be made.