Basidiolichens are lichenized members of the division Basidiomycota within the subkingdom Dikarya of the kingdom Fungi. They form a diverse yet much smaller group of lichens than the far more common ascolichens of the division Ascomycota. Owing to how few described species there are, basidiolichens are generally considered to be poorly researched, and few studies that characterize their natural products exist. Biogeographically, basidiolichen species may be distributed in a cosmopolitan manner or more regionally, ranging from arctic and montane habitats to more temperate and tropical environments. Morphologically, basidiocarp and thallus structures may vary widely within and between basidiolichen genera.
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 arachnodavidea is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2016 by Bibiana Moncada, Manuela Dal Forno, and Robert Lücking. The specific epithet alludes to the arachnoid surface of the thallus, and also refers to mycologist David Leslie Hawksworth. The lichen is only known to occur in the páramo of Guasca in Colombia, where it grows on the ground in sheltered places between plants and bryophytes.
Cora gigantea 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 Luis Fernando Coca. The specific epithet gigantea refers the large size of the thallus, and indirectly references David Leslie Hawksworth, who the authors describe as "a giant in mycology and lichenology". The lichen occurs in the mountainous cloud forests of Colombia at elevations around 2,500 m (8,200 ft), where it grows on the ground and between bryophyte and lichen mats.
Cora schizophylloides 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, Camillo Rodríguez, and Robert Lücking. The type specimen was collected in the páramo of Guanacas-Las Delicias at an altitude of 3,330 m (10,930 ft). The specific epithet schizophylloides alludes to the resemblance of the dried lichen thallus with the fruitbody of the fungus Schizophyllum commune. The lichen is only known from the type locality, where it grows as an epiphyte on páramo shrubs. The terrestrial species Cora hirsuta is closely related.
Sulzbacheromyces leucodontius is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. First described in 2023, it is characterised by its distinctive white, unbranched fruiting bodies that resemble elephant tusks, growing 6–25 millimetres tall. The species forms a thin, crusty growth on clay soils in tropical rainforests, where it lives in symbiosis with microscopic green algae. It has the broadest geographical distribution of any American Sulzbacheromyces species, occurring across the Neotropics from Mexico to western Brazil, particularly in lowland areas. Although initially published as S. leucodontium, the species name was later corrected to S. leucodontius.
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 miomboensis is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. Found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as was described as new to science in 2017.
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.
Lepidostroma vilgalysii is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. Discovered in 2012 in Mexico's Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, it grows in small green patches on clay banks in high-altitude pine forests. The species is distinctive because of its unusual "window lichen" structure, where its algal partner is concentrated in a layer at the base rather than near the surface as in most lichens. Its most distinctive features are its club-shaped reproductive structures, which are pale yellow to orange-brown with cream-colored tips, and its scale-like body parts that have white, raised edges. It is known only from a single location near San José Teacalco, Tlaxcala, at an elevation of about 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level.
