Basidiolichens are lichenized members of the Basidiomycota. They form a diverse yet much smaller group of lichens than the far more common ascolichens of the Ascomycota. Basidiolichen species may be distributed in a cosmopolitan manner or more regionally, ranging from arctic and montane habitats to more temperate and tropical environments. Within and between basidiolichen genera, basidiocarp and thallus structures may vary widely. Owing to how few species there are, basidiolichens are generally considered to be poorly researched, and few studies that characterize their natural products exist.
Sticta is a genus of lichens in the family Peltigeraceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in tropical areas, and includes about 114 species. These lichens have a leafy appearance, and are colored brown or black. Sticta species with cyanobacteria as photobionts can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, and due to their relative abundance and high turnover, they contribute appreciably to the rainforest ecosystem. They are commonly called spotted felt lichens.
Dictyonema is a genus of mainly tropical basidiolichens in the family Hygrophoraceae.
Lepidostromatales is an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. It is the only known order of basidiomycete fungi composed entirely of lichenized members. Morphologically, the fruiting bodies of all species are clavarioid. Six species are known, five of which were described within the span of 2007–2013. Due to its morphological similarity to the genus Multiclavula, its isolated phylogenetic position was not understood until quite recently. The photobionts that have been found in association with members of this group are not known to associate with any other types of lichenized fungi.
Ertzia is a monospecific genus in the family Lepidostromataceae. The sole species is Ertzia akagerae, a basidiolichen. The genus was circumscribed in 2014 by Brendan Hodkinson and Robert Lücking. Ertzia is distinguished from all other lichenized clavarioid fungi by having a microsquamulose thallus that forms contiguous glomerules with a cortex of jigsaw puzzle-shaped cells. Ertzia akagerae grows on soil in the African tropics.
Lepidostroma is a genus in the family Lepidostromataceae. The genus is distinguished from all other lichenized clavarioid fungi by having a distinctly squamulose thallus with scattered to dense rounded to reniform squamules. Four species are known from the tropics of Africa and the Americas.
Cora applanata is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Bibiana Moncada, Edier Soto-Medina, and Robert Lücking. The specific epithet refers to its applanate (flattened) thallus. The lichen is widely distributed in tropical montane areas of the northern Andes, where it grows on soil along open road banks and on land slides.
Cora barbifera is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Bibiana Moncada, Ayda Lucía Patiño, and Robert Lücking. The specific epithet barbifera refers to the dense setae on the thallus surface, which somewhat resembles a beard. The lichen is known to occur only at the type locality in the páramo of Cerro Negro, Colombia, where it grows as an epiphyte on paramo shrubs. Cora hirsuta and C. schizophylloides are closely related species.
Cora elephas is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Robert Lücking, Bibiana Moncada, and Leidy Yasmín Vargas-Mendoza. The specific epithet elephas refers the "grey colour and elephant skin-like consistency" of the lichen. It occurs at elevations greater than 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in the northern Andes of Colombia and Ecuador, where it grows mostly on rocks, but sometimes with mosses and other lichens. Cora elephas is one of the largest species in genus Cora.
Cora palaeotropica is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. Found in Sri Lanka, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Gothamie Weerakoon, André Aptroot, and Robert Lücking. The specific epithet palaeotropica refers to its palaeotropical distribution, which is unique in the genus Cora. It is only known from its type locality in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, a biodiversity hotspot in the Southern Province.
Cora rothesiorum is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. Found in Colombia, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Bibiana Moncada, Santiago Madriñán, and Robert Lücking. The specific epithet rothesiorum refers to the Earl of Rothes, which was the origin of the name Leslie, and an indirect tribute to mycologist David Leslie Hawksworth. The lichen occurs in the northern Andes of Colombia, close to Bogota, where it grows as an epiphyte of páramo shrubs in shaded places. Cora rothesiorum is in a clade with Cora minor.
Cora udebeceana is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. Found in Colombia, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Bibiana Moncada, Rouchi Nadine Peláez-Pulido, and Robert Lücking. The specific epithet udebeceana is a semi-acronym of the District University Francisco José de Caldas in Bogota, UDBC, whose herbarium holds the largest collection of lichens in Colombia. The lichen is only known to occur at the type locality in the Peña de Santa Bárbara Natural Reserve. Here it grows as an epiphyte on tree branches in mountainous rainforest.
Acantholichen pannarioides is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae, and the type species of genus Acantholichen. The lichen has a bluish-tinged, gelatinous thallus with a surface texture that has a powdery to hairy texture. It is found in montane regions of Central America and northern South America, where it grows on forest litter, bark, on bryophytes, and on other lichens.
Sulzbacheromyces bicolor is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. It occurs in Yunnan, China.
Sulzbacheromyces fossicola is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. First described in 1950 by E. J. H. Corner as Clavaria fossicola, it is characterised by its dark green to indigo blue crusty growth form and distinctive white, club-shaped fruiting bodies that turn beige when dried. The species forms a thin layer on soil or rocks, where it lives in symbiosis with microscopic green algae. It is distributed across tropical and subtropical Asia, from India to Singapore, where it specifically grows on exposed yellow and red clay soils in shaded locations. The species was transferred to Sulzbacheromyces in 2017 based on molecular and morphological evidence.
Sulzbacheromyces sinensis is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. It is found in Asia.
Sulzbacheromyces yunnanensis is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. It is found in Yunnan, China.
Sulzbacheromyces tutunendo is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. It is found in Colombia.
Sulzbacheromyces chocoensis is a species of soil-dwelling basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. It forms a thin, olive-green crust on clay soil and produces distinctive unbranched, reddish-orange to yellowish reproductive structures. The species was described in 2018 from specimens collected in Colombia's Chocó Biogeographic Region, where it grows in tropical rainforest environments.
Sulzbacheromyces caatingae is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. Discovered in 2012 in northeastern Brazil, it is characterised by its thin green crustose thallus and distinctive orange-pink, club-shaped reproductive structures. The species has a broad ecological amplitude, occurring across different vegetation types from the semi-arid Caatinga to humid Atlantic Forest fragments, where it grows on soil banks and termite nests near forest edges. As the type species of the genus Sulzbacheromyces, it represents a unique evolutionary lineage within the order Lepidostromatales and can be distinguished from similar-looking species by its undifferentiated thallus structure and association with green algae.
