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Three fossil species of Equisetum (Equisetaceae) were reported from the Neogene of south-western China and northern Vietnam, based on well-preserved rhizomes with tubers. Equisetum cf. pratense Ehrhart from the middle Miocene of Zhenyuan County, Yunnan Province, China is characterised by a bunch of three ovate tubers with longitudinal ridges on the surface. Equisetum yenbaiense A.T. Aung, T. Su, T.V. Do & Z.K. Zhou, sp. nov. from the late Miocene of Yenbai Province, Vietnam is characterised by four bunches of elongate tubers arranged in a whorl on a node. Equisetum yongpingense A.T. Aung, T. Su & Z.K. Zhou, sp. nov. from the late Pliocene of Yunnan is characterised by fibrous roots on most nodes and two to four bunches of large cylindrical tubers arranged in a whorl on a node. Floristic assemblages suggest that these species might have grown near a riverside or lakeshore. These new fossil records improve our understanding of species richness of Equisetum and their distribution range during the Neogene in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five new wood-inhabiting fungi, Lyomyces albopulverulentus, L. yunnanensis, Xylodon daweishanensis, X. fissuratus, and X. puerensis spp. nov., are proposed based on a combination of morphological features and molecular evidence. Lyomyces albopulverulentus is characterized by brittle basidiomata, pruinose hymenophore with a white hymenial surface, a monomitic hyphal system with clamped generative hyphae, and ellipsoid basidiospores. Lyomyces yunnanensis is characterized by a grandinioid hymenial surface, the presence of capitate cystidia, and ellipsoid basidiospores. Xylodon daweishanensis is characterized by an odontioid hymenial surface, a monomitic hyphal system with clamped generative hyphae, and broad ellipsoid-to-subglobose basidiospores. Xylodon fissuratus is characterized by a cracking basidiomata with a grandinioid hymenial surface, and ellipsoid basidiospores. Xylodon puerensis is characterized by a poroid hymenophore with an angular or slightly daedaleoid configuration, and ellipsoid-to-broad-ellipsoid basidiospores. Sequences of ITS and nLSU rRNA markers of the studied samples were generated and phylogenetic analyses were performed with the maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian inference methods. The phylogram based on the ITS+nLSU rDNA gene regions (Fig. 1) included six genera within the families Chaetoporellaceae, Hyphodontiaceae, Hymenochaetaceae, and Schizoporaceae (Hymenochaetales)--Fasciodontia, Hastodontia, Hyphodontia, Kneiffiella, Lyomyces, and Xylodon--in which the five new species were grouped into genera Lyomyces and Xylodon. The phylogenetic tree inferred from the ITS sequences highlighted that Lyomyces albopulverulentus formed a monophyletic lineage and was then grouped closely with L. bambusinus, L. orientalis, and L. sambuci; additionally, L. yunnanensis was sister to L. niveus with strong supports. The topology, based on the ITS sequences, revealed that Xylodon daweishanensis was retrieved as a sister to X. hyphodontinus; X. fissuratus was grouped with the four taxa X. montanus, X. subclavatus, X. wenshanensis, and X. xinpingensis; and X. puerensis was clustered with X. flaviporus, X. ovisporus, X. subflaviporus, X. subtropicus, and X. taiwanianus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]