Neotropicomus indicus: A 'South American' Mushroom from India.

The genus Neotropicomus was created in 2022 to include two species of Boletacean Mushrooms from South America, the previously described Xerocomus parvogracili (which became Neotropicomus parvogracili) from Guyana, and a new species, Neotropicomus australis, from the Atlantic Forests of Brazil. The name 'Neotropicomus' refers to the Neotropical Realm, the biological zone which incorporates the tropical biomes of South and Central America and the Caribbean islands, to which region the new genus was thought to be restricted.

In a paper published in the journal Cryptogamie Mycologie on 27 March 2024, Salna Nanu and Arun Kumar of the Department of Botany at the University of Calicut, describe a third species of Neotropicomus from Kerala State in India.

The new species is named Neotropicomus indicus, in reference to its unexpected presence in India. It produces small Mushrooms 20-30 mm across, which are convex when young, but flatten out as they age. The upper surfaces of the Mushrooms are reddish brown, fading to greyish towards the centre. The gills and stipe (stem) are white, with the stipe being 20-40 mm long and 3-4 mm wide.

Neotropicomus indicus, holotype, basidiomata. Nanu & Kumar (2024).

Neotropicomus indicus Mushrooms were found growing solitary in Diptocarp forests in Thiruvananthapuram District. It physically resembles other members of the genus Neotropicomus, and was confirmed as being the sister taxon to the other members of the genus by a genetic analysis.

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Psathyrella cladii-marisci: A new species of Brittlestem Mushroom from Italy.

Brittlestems, Psathyrella, are a group of about 400 Mushrooms with hollow stems and thin caps. They are found in a wide variety of habitats, including dung, post-fire locations, the dead stems of larger herbaceous plants, and in one case, Psathyrella aquatica, completely underwater, the only known instance of a Mushroom (or any other Basidiomycote Fungus) fruiting underwater. Brittlestems are not generally edible, and consuming them can have unpleasant side-effects.

In a paper published in the journal Mycokeys on 16 May 2019, Giovanni Sicoli of the Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Science at the University of Calabria, Nicodemo Passalacqua and Antonio De Giuseppe of the Museum of Natural History of Calabria and Botanical Garden, also at the University of Calabria, and Anna Maria Palermo and Giuseppe Pellegrino, again of the Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Science at the University of Calabria, describe a new species of Brittlestem from the Botanical Garden at the University of Calabria.

The new species is named Psathyrella cladii-marisci, in reference to the Swamp Sawgrass, Cladium mariscus, the plant upon which it was found growing on cut culms (stems). This Fungus produces Mushrooms up to 3.5 cm in diameter, conical to convex when young, maturing to hemispherical or flat, and hazelnut in colour. 

A tuft of Cladium mariscus planted in a tank at the Botanical Garden of the University of Calabria, southern Italy (A), and first-sight features of Psathyrella cladii-marisci basidiomes at the base and in-between of remnants of excised culms of the plant (B). Sicoli et al. (2019).

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Gliophorus glutinosus: A new species of Waxy Cap Mushroom from Sikkim.

Waxy Cap Mushrooms, Hygrophoraceae, are fleshy, often edible Mushrooms that form mycorrhizal associations (associations between Fungi and Plants in which the Fungus receives sugars produced by the Plant and the Plant receives nutrients obtained from the soil from the Fungus) with a variety of forest trees, including both Broadleaved and Coniferous species; each species of Fungus typically forms associations with a single species of tree. These Fungi are found in woodland around the world, from tropical forests to the boreal forests of the subpolar regions. Members of the genus Gliophorus are noted for the production of rather slimey Mushrooms.

In a paper published in the journal MycoKeys on 21 December 2018, Dyutiparna Chakraborty and Kanad Das of the Botanical Survey of India, and Alfredo Vizzini of the Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology at the University of Torino, describe a new species of Gliophorus from Sikkim State in northeast India.

The new species is named Gliophorus glutinosus, where 'glutinosus' means 'glutinous'. This species produces small mushrooms, 5-20 mm in diameter, convex in shape with a small central depression, and greyish or brownish orange in colour, on stipes (stems) up to 60 mm high. The species was found growing in a mixed deciduous woodland in Sikkim's South District. at an altitude of 1962 m above sealevel.

Gliophorus glutinosus, Mushrooms in natural habitat. Chakraborty et al. (2018).

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Lactifluus bicapillus: A new species of Milkcap Mushroom from Cameroon.

Milkcap Mushrooms, Russulaceae, are a widespread group of often edible, ectomycorrhizal (Plant-Fungus relationship in which the root is surrounded by a sheath of Fungi) Basidiomycote Fungi, which produce gilled Mushrooms with notable brittle flesh. Members of the genus Lactifluus are widely distributed in the tropics, as well as in some temperate parts of Australia. They are the dominant group of ectomycorrhizal Fungi in the lowland rainforests of southern Cameroon and northern Gabon, where they form symbiotic relationships with trees of the genera Uapaca, an edible-fruit producing group found in mixed rainforests across Africa and Madagascar, and Gilbertiodendron, a Leguminous tree producing large monospecific stands.

In a paper published in the journal MycoKeys on 28 January 2019, Eske De Crop and Jonas Lescroart of the Research Group Mycology at Ghent University, André-Ledoux Njouonkou of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Bamenda, and Ruben De Lange, Kobeke Van de Putte and Annemieke Verbeken, also of the Research Group Mycology at Ghent University, describe a new species of Milkcap Mushroom from the Dja Biosphere Reserve in southeast Cameroon.

The new species is named Lactifluus bicapillus, from 'bi' meaning 'two' and 'capillus' meaning the terminal hyphae in the skin of a Mushroom, as these cells have two distinct forms in this species. Lactifluus bicapillus produces Mushrooms 34-79 mm in diameter, the outer margin of which arches upward as they age. These Mushrooms are rust-coloured at their centres, fading to pale orange around their margins.

Basidiomata of Lactifluus bicapillus. (a)–(c) Basidiomata of Lactifluus bicapillus, (d) detail of lamellae, (e) young specimen, (f) detail of latex, (g) detail of brown colour change of the latex. Eske De Crop & Annemieke Verbeken in De Crop et al. (2019).

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Hygrophorus yadigarii: A new species of Waxy Cap Mushroom from Trabzon Province in northeastern Turkey.

Waxy Cap Mushrooms, Hygrophorus spp., are fleshy, often edible Mushrooms that form mycorrhizal associations (associations between Fungi and Plants in which the Fungus receives sugars produced by the Plant and the Plant receives nutrients obtained from the soil from the Fungus) with a variety of forest trees, including both Broadleaved and Coniferous species; each species of Fungus typically forms associations with a single species of tree. These Fungi are found in woodland around the world, from tropical forests to the boreal forests of the subpolar regions.

In a paper published in the Turkish Journal of Botany on 20 November 2017, Ertuğrul Sesli of the Department of Biology Education at the Karadeniz Technical University, Vladimír Antonín of the Department of Botany at the Moravian Museum, and Marco Contu of Olbia in Italy, describe a new species of Waxy Cap Mushroom from Trabzon Province in northeastern Turkey.

The new species is named Hygrophorus yadigarii, in honour of the late Yadigar Sesli, the father of Ertuğrul Sesli. This Fungus produces Mushrooms up to 60 mm across and 70 mm high, which start out hemispherical and become flat as they grow, and are white-to-cream in colour, sometimes with a bluish sheen. The species was found in a Hornbeam-Spruce dominated forest in the Maçka District of Trabzon Province.

Hygrophorus yadigarii, wild specimen. Scale bar is 30 mm. Ertuğrul Sesli in Selsi et al. (2017).

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Laccaria squarrosa: A new species of Deceiver from a relict Beech forest in Veracruz State, Mexico.

Deceivers, Laccaria spp., are Mushroom-producing Fungi that form mycorrhizal associations (associations between Fungi and Plants in which the Fungus receives sugars produced by the Plant and the Plant receives nutrients obtained from the soil from the Fungus) with a variety of forest trees. These Fungi are unusual in that they have four mating types (sexes) with each one capable of fertilising any of the others. The common name 'Deceivers' comes from the very variable cap colour of many of these Mushrooms, which makes them hard to identify.

In a paper published in the journal MycoKeys on 27 November 2017, Antero Ramos, Victor Bandala, and Leticia Montoya of the Red Biodiversidad y Sistemática at the Instituto de Ecología, describe a new species of Deceiver from a relict Mexican Beech cloud forest in Veracruz State, Mexico.

The new species is named Laccaria squarrosa, where 'squarrosa' means 'rough' or 'scaley' in reference to the surface covering of the Mushrooms. This species produces small orange or brown mushrooms 10-82 mm in diameter.

Laccaria squarrosa, basidiomes (Mushrooms). Scale bars are 10 mm. Ramos et al. (2017).

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Coprinopsis rugosomagnispora: A new species of Inky Cap Mushroom from Poland.

Inky Cap Mushrooms, or Coprinoids, are saprophytic Fungi (Fungi that feed by breaking down decaying organic material) which produce Mushrooms with gills that liquify as they mature, releasing spores in a black 'ink' that aids dispersal. They were formerly all included in a single genus, Coprinus, until genetic analysis methods revealed that not all Inky Caps shared a common ancestor, resulting in many species being taken out and placed in three new genera, Coprinellus, Coprinopsis, and Parasola. To make matters worse, species tend to be both similar to one another and morpholgcally variable, so it is likely that the described list of species contains both hidden (cryptic) species that have not been recognised, and specimens of the same species described undr different names.

In a paper published in the journal Plant Systematics and Evolution on 28 April 2017, Błażej Gierczyk of the Faculty of Chemistry at Adam Mickiewicz University, Pamela Rodriguez-Flakus of the Laboratory of Molecular Analyses at the Władysław Szafer Institute of Botany of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Marcin Pietras of the Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation at the University of Gdańsk, and the Laboratory of Symbiotic Associations at the Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Mirosław Gryc of Ogrodniczki, Waldemar Czerniawski of Skawina, and Marcin Piątek of the Department of Mycology at the Władysław Szafer Institute of Botany of the Polish Academy of Sciences, describe a new species of Inky Cap Mushroom from Poland.

The new species is placed in the genus Coprinus,and given the specific name rugosomagnispora, meaning 'large, wrinkled spores', in reference to its distinctive spores, though it has been confirmed as a separtate species by genetic analysis. Coprinopsis rugosomagnispora forms small Mushrooms, with a cap at most 15 mm across, white in colour with gills that go from white to grey to black before liquifying. The species was found at two locations 450 km apart, in Podlaskie and Małopolska provinces, and is though likely to be present in other parts of Poland and probably other European countries. It was found growing on wet ground in both coniferous and mixed forests.

Basidiocarps of Coprinopsis rugosomagnispora from the Puszcza Knyszynska forest, northeast Poland: (a), (b) general view; (c) lamellae; (d), (e) young basidiocarps; (f) old specimen. Gierczyk et al. (2017).

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