Resolution of the nomenclature for niu-chang-chih (Taiwanofungus camphoratus), an important medicinal polypore

Niu-chang-chih, a medicinal polypore restricted to Taiwan on the endemic tree species Cinnamomum kanehirae, currently goes by the names Antrodia cinnamomea T.T. Chang &W.N. Chou, A. camphorata (M. Zang & C.H. Su) Sheng H. Wu & al., and Taiwanofungus camphoratus (M. Zang & C.H. Su) Sheng H. Wu & al., the latter two based on Ganoderma camphoratum M. Zang & C.H. Su. The basidiocarps on the holotypes for the two basionyms Antrodia cinnamomea and Ganoderma camphoratum are of niu-chang-chih. The first validly published name that was applied to this species waG. camphoratum M. Zang & C.H. Su published in 1990. However, the original type of G. camphoratum consisted of mixed material, consisting chiefly of a basidiocarp of niu-chang-chih but also of the spores of another unrelated fungus. The two elements are represented in the original description and accompanying illustrations. Later Chang & Chou (2004) lectotypifed G. camphoratum limiting it to the spores described and illustrated by Zang and Su, the only portion of the original type that Chang and Chou believed to belong in Ganoderma, and applied the name Antrodia cinnamomea Chang & Chou (1995) to niu-chang-chih. Many, however, reject Chang and Chou's conclusions and continue to apply the name Ganoderma camphoratum, and combinations based on it (i.e., Antrodia camphoratum, Taiwanofungus camphoratus), to niu-chang-chih, relegating Antrodia cinnamomea to synonymy. Based on careful examination of the type of G. camphoratum, it is concluded that the spores upon which Chang and Chou's lectotype is based are a minor admixture with the original gathering of the niu-chang-chih specimen and thus cannot serve as the lectotype for the name Ganoderma camphoratum. Ganoderma camphoratum is lectotypified here so as to exclude the spores present in the original holotype that are not from niu-chang-chih. Furthermore, since this conclusion could be subject to challenge and the species is exceptionally important medicinally and economically, we also propose to conserve the name with a conserved type that is consistent with the lectotype effected herein. An overview of the taxonomy of niu-chang-chih is also provided and a new combination, Taiwanofungus salmoneus, for a related species is effected.