Creation of provisional species name Xylobolus sp. 'frustulatus-MA01'

This post is a part of a series outlining the rationale for the creation of provisional species names. For more information on provisional species names, see Stephen Russell's post here. To see other posts like this, check out the "Provisional Species Names" category in the sidebar. 

Xylobolus frustulatus is a common crust fungus that produces repeating tile-like, cracked fruiting bodies on hardwood logs. This is the reason behind the specific epithet "frustulatus", which derives from the Latin frustum or frustulum meaning "piece" or "part". ​Originally described as Thelephora frustulata by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801, the species was sanctioned by Elius Magnus Fries in 1821 and transferred to Xylobolus by Petter Adolf Karsten in 1881. European names are frequently applied to North American fungi, but DNA sequencing has shown time and again that they are often different species. This appears to be the case with Xylobolus frustulatus. 

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