Metuloidea


Metuloidea is a genus of five species of fungi in the family Steccherinaceae. The genus was circumscribed by New Zealand-based mycologist Gordon Herriot Cunningham in 1965. The type species is M. tawa, a fungus originally described by Cunningham as a species of Trametes. Formerly classified in family Meruliaceae, Metuloidea was moved to the Steccherinaceae in 2016, following prior research that outlined a revised framework for the Steccherinaceae based on molecular phylogenetics.

Description

Metuloidea contains fungi that produce poroid or hydnoid fruit bodies that are brown and have a sweet odour. It features a dimitic hyphal system with branched, relatively wide skeletal hyphae. The spores are ellipsoid to cylindrical, thin walled, and measure 3–4 by 2–2.8 μm.

Species