An emendation of Scleroderma, new records, and review of the known species in Mexico

Abstract

An emendation of the generic description of Scleroderma is proposed to consider the membranaceous veillike, or granulose patches, both on the base of the globose basidiome or on the upper part of the stipe, formed bythe growth of the basidiome, which breaks the exoperidium. Veligaster previously segregated by this character, is asynonym. Guzmán’s classification of the genus in 3 sections is followed, however due to the change of the type ofthe genus for S. verrucosum, Sect. Aculeatispora is now a synonym of Sect. Scleroderma, and S. citrinum that was inSect. Scleroderma is now in a new section named Reticulatae. A review of the 21 Mexican species of Sclerodermais presented, 14 of these are accepted. The most common species in the country is S. nitidum in the tropical andsubtropical forests. New localities from Mexico and foreign countries are discussed in S. bermudense, S. bovista, S.citrinum, S. hypogaeum, S. michiganense, S. polyrhizum, and S. pseudostipitatum. On the other hand, it is discussed thatS. sinnamariense seems absent in Mexico, because it was confused with S. bermudense.