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Lentinus scleropus (Pers.) Fr.

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Scientific name
Lentinus scleropus
Author
(Pers.) Fr.
Common names
 
IUCN Specialist Group
Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Basidiomycota
Class
Agaricomycetes
Order
Polyporales
Family
Polyporaceae
Assessment status
Published
Assessment date
2024-01-26
IUCN Red List Category
LC
Assessors
Menolli Jr, N. & Alves-Silva, G.
Reviewers
Drechsler-Santos, E.R., Martins da Cunha, K. & Mueller, G.M.

Assessment Notes

The content on this page is fetched from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/265094980/265150983

Justification

Lentinus scleropus is a wild edible species that has a wide distribution and high abundance throughout its distribution range, occurring in the Neotropical region, mainly in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. The species has a high detectability and grows abundantly on dead hardwood logs with no known host specificity. L. scleropus is associated with anthropogenic areas, being commonly found in urban centres. Therefore, the species' population is expected to be stable with a high number of total mature individuals, without any direct or detected threat. L. scleropus is considered Least Concern due to its wide range, large population, and association with urban areas.

Geographic range

Lentinus scleropus was described as Agaricus scleropus by Gaudichaud-Beaupré (1827) based on a collection from the state of Rio de Janeiro, southestern Brazil. Based on the records of Pegler (1983), Rodriguez et al. (1995), and the locality of the nomenclatural types of its synonyms, L. scleropus is also recorded in Brazil (in Amazonas), Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Guadalupe, Martinique, Mexico (Vera Cruz state), Nicaragua, and Paraguay.

Additional bibliographical records to Brazil include the states of Rio Grande do Sul [Pereira 1988 and Singer 1953, both as Pleurotus hirtus] and São Paulo (Hennings 1904 as Lentinus vellereus, Corrêa-Santos, 2023). Curated data from GBIF.org (2024) confirm and expand the distribution of L. scleropus to Argentina (Buenos Aires), Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), Bolivia (Reyes), Brazil (Amazonas, Rio de Janeiro, Pará, São Paulo, and Rio Grande do Sul), Chile (Malleco), Colombia (Casanare, Guaviare, Meta), Costa Rica (San José, Puntarenas), Cuba (Guantánamo, La Prenda), Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo), El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana (Kamakusa), Grenada (Saint Patrick), Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico (Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Tabasco), Paraguay (Paraguarí), Puerto Rico (Aibonito, Barranquitas, Bayanum, Cambalache, Carolina, Cayey, Cidra, Espinosa, Fajardo, Mameyes, Naguabo, Río Grande, San Juan), Saint Kitts and Nevis, the USA (Florida), Trinidad and Tobago (Sangre Grande), Virgin Islands and Venezuela (Sucre). Considering the putative geographic distribution in the Neotropical region, the records to Malaysia (GBIF.org 2024, gbifID 1931035050) and India (GBIF.org 2024, gbifID 1927894817) are doubtful and therefore were not considered in the distribution of the species.

Population and Trends

There are ca. 200 recorded collections of the species throughout the Americas, with most of the occurrences in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean region. In South America, the species is recorded to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, and Venezuela. This is a species with high detectability, growing abundantly on dead hardwood logs with no known host specificity.

Lentinus scleropus
is widely distributed in the Neotropical region and its population is expected to occupy a large portion of its range of occurrence in high abundance, as the species is associated with anthropogenised areas, such as urban centres. As these conditions and areas are in expansion within the species distribution range, its population is expected to be stable, and even possibly improving.

Population Trend: stable


Habitat and Ecology

Lentinus scleropus is a conspicuous species that produces large basidiomata (up to 15 cm pileus in diameter), which usually grow as a brown rot decaying in large clusters covering fallen trunks, gregarious on dead hardwood logs with no known host specificity. There are records on Tecorm sp. (Bignoniaceae) and Algarrobo Blanco (Prosopis alba) (Pegler 1983, Rodriguez et al. 1995) in xeromesophytic forests. There are many records in urban and anthropogenic areas where the species seems to thrive.

Threats

The species is highly abundant throughout its widespread occurrence range, being associated with urban areas, which are in expansion. Therefore, there are no direct or detected threats to the species' population size and stability.

Conservation Actions

Although there are no needs for direct or urgent conservation actions, as Lentinus scleropus' population is stable and possibly increasing, the genetic diversity of the species should be maintained in vitro. This would enable future ex situ conservation actions if necessary. New samplings are needed to better understand the distribution in other countries in Central and South America and also other regions in the Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil, as well as in tropical regions outside the Americas. Considering its range distribution and the many records from GBIF, molecular and phylogenetic data are necessary to confirm its taxonomic placement. The cultivation potential and medicinal properties of the species also need to be further studied.

Use and Trade

The species is edible and young specimens have been reported as used for food in Martinique (Patouillard 1889). Basidiomata of Lentinus scleropus found in an urban area in the state of São Paulo (São Paulo city), southeast Brazil, have been consumed as food by experienced mycologists.

Source and Citation

Menolli Jr, N. & Alves-Silva, G. 2024. Lentinus scleropus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T265094980A265150983. .Accessed on 28 October 2024

Country occurrence