Lentinus
| Lentinus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lentinus tigrinus, Italy | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Polyporales |
| Family: | Polyporaceae |
| Genus: | Lentinus Fr. (1825) |
| Type species | |
| Lentinus crinitus (L.) Fr. (1825) | |
| Synonyms | |
Lentinus is a genus of fungi in the family Polyporaceae. The genus is widely distributed, with many species found in subtropical regions.
The genus name Lentinus is derived from the Latin lent, meaning "pliable", and inus, meaning "resembling".
Fungi of this genus have been recorded as occasional food of the pleasing fungus beetle Dacne quadrimaculata, but this might actually refer to Neolentinus as its known food species N.lepideus was formerly placed in Lentinus (see below). Also, the Polyporaceae "Panus strigosus" – an ambiguous and obsolete name that occasionally was used for some species now in Lentinus – has been claimed as food of the pleasing fungus beetle Triplax flavicollis; as this species has otherwise been noted to eat the common oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus exclusively, the "P.strigosus" claim is probably erroneous.