Members of Lepidostromatales closely resemble species of
Multiclavula because these groups share a combination of
clavarioid fruiting bodies and
lichenized
thalli. The first species described in the order was originally described in the genus
Clavaria due to the clavarioid fungal
fruiting body, and was later transferred to
Multiclavula (
Cantharellales) due to the lichenized thallus. The group was first recognized as distinct on account of the small squamules (scale-like structures) that make up the thallus, and the
genus Lepidostroma was created as a result. With the addition of two more squamulose species discovered in
tropical Africa, this separation was not accepted and
Multiclavula was again emended to include species with squamulose thalli. However,
molecular phylogenetic analyses eventually confirmed
Lepidostroma as a distinct lineage, Lepidostromataceae, unrelated to
Multiclavula. The recent discovery of three further species (for a total of six species), created an opportunity for more in-depth phylogenetic research, which confirmed the isolation of the family from all described orders. As a result, the group was raised to the rank of
order (Lepidostromatales). Although the separation of this group from
Multiclavula was originally based on thallus type, further research has demonstrated that members of the group actually have three distinct thallus types, one of which ('crustose-granulose') matches up with
Multiclavula. However, the
photobiont of Lepidostromatales is
chlorococcoid instead of
coccomyxoid (which is the type found in
Multiclavula), making the photobiont-type a reasonable diagnostic feature for the group. The three thallus types correlate with the current division of the group into three
genera: •
Ertzia •
Lepidostroma •
Sulzbacheromyces ==Habitat and distribution==