Epitypification of Ganoderma sichuanense J.D. Zhao & X.Q. Zhang ( Ganodermataceae )

The widely cultivated Chinese Ganoderma , as Ling‐zhi in Chinese and previously named as “ G. lucidum ”, is an important fungus with significant medicinal and economic values. The species identity of the fungus was recently clarified as G. sichuanense based on both morphological and molecular data, but an unusual ITS sequence inconsistent with morphological characters was also reported from the holotype of G. sichuanense . The ITS sequence is proved to be of G. weberianum , a species distinctly different from G. sichuanense in morphology. However, repeated amplifications of DNA fragments from the holotype of G. sichuanense were unsuccessful because of the specimen's condition. In order to interpret the species concept of the taxon, both morphologically and molecularly, an epitype of G. sichuanense is designated in this paper from recent collections with living strains from the type locality of the species. Ganoderma lingzhi , a recently proposed new species name for Ling‐zhi widely cultivated in China, is determined as a later synonym of G. sichuanense .