The lignicolous, corticioid fungi are ecologically and taxonomically heterogeneous. Corticioid refers to a general resemblance that the typically effuse, thin basidiomes (fruitbodies) have to bark. Ecologically most species fruit on dead bark and wood, and they are accepted as saprophytic. However, many have not been critically evaluated. About 40 species decay the wood of living trees; a few dozen are pathogens of agricultural crops and turf grasses; a few are mycorrhizal. Taxonomically these fungi are Basidiomycota of the class Hymenomycetes. The 1163 species treated below are distributed among 21 orders and 54 families (Table 1). The data presented in this work form a base-line for biological surveys, biogeography mapping and biodiversity studies. Although it took considerable effort to compile the scattered literature, the primary effort and major contribution is the evalution of the data in that literature, and their reorganization into a database reflecting current taxonomic schemes. Not a small part of this evaluation was the problem of determining the proper scientific name for each species, i.e., if a fungus had been given more than one binomial, which was acceptable and which names were to be listed as synonyms. Also, if a fungus had been placed in several genera, which placement would put that species with those most closely related to it. The result is twenty-eight new names and new combinations are proposed. The ecological associations, geographical distribution and number of species of these fungi present in North America are poorly understood. The existing data are widely scattered and needed to be collated to determine geographic patterns, to demonstrate the ecological diversity of the group, and to provide an accurate estimate of the number of species in Canada and the United States.
