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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Chroogomphus conacytiensis & Chroogomphus flavovinaceus: Two new species of edible Mushroom from Mexico.

The genus Chroogomphus currently comprises eleven species of Pine-associated Mushrooms from across the Northern Hemisphere. These Mushrooms are often prized as a food-source, particularly in eastern Asia, and are considered to be pharmacologically important, having been shown to produce drugs with antioxidant potential, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antidiabetic and antitumor properties. These Mushrooms are also eaten in Mexico, where all are referred to a single species, Chroogomphus jamaicensis, but this is unlikely to reflect the true diversity of the group here, as the genus is known to be represented by several different species in the United States.

In a paper published in the journal Phytokeys on 24 January 2023, Jesús Pérez-Moreno and Magdalena Martínez-Reyes, of the Colegio de Posgraduados at Campus Montecillo, César Ramiro Martínez-Gonzáles of the Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Victoria of the Tecnológico Nacional de México, and Elisettte Ramírez-Carbajal, Anaitzi Carrera-Martínez. Javier Isaac de la Fuente, Joan Windhoek Olvera-Noriega, and Olivia Ayala-Vásquez, also of the Colegio de Posgraduados at Campus Montecillo describe two new species of edible Mushrooms in the genus Chroogomphus, from central and southwestern Mexico.

Pérez-Moreno et al. collected Mushrooms during the rainy seasons (June-September) of 2021 and 2022, in mixed Conifer and mixed Pine-Oak and Oak-Pine forests on the Transverse Neovolcanic Mexican Axis in the states of Mexico and Tlaxcala, as well as Hartweg's Pine forests in the Mixe Culture Region of Oaxaca State. The relationships between these and other members of the genus were then esablished following DNA extraction and analysis, in order to confirm that the samples do, in fact, represent new species. 

The first new species is named Chroogomphus conacytiensis, where 'conacytiensis', in reference to the Mexican Council of Science and Technology (abbreviated to CONACYT in Spanish). This species produces slightly velvety brown, brownish yellow, brownish olive, greyish, or grey in colour, bruising to reddish brown or wine-coloured. These Mushrooms are 23–35 mm in diameter, and convex aging to dome-shaped. The underside of the Mushroom has orange-yellow, slightly serrated lamellae ('gills'), the stipe ('stem') is 23-70 mm long and 1-14 mm wide, and orange, yellow-orange, or pale orange in colout, becoming grayish to wine-coloured when cut. 

Chroogomphus conacytiensis, General view of basidiomata. Pérez-Moreno et al. (2023).

Chroogomphus conacytiensis was found growing in mixed Pine-Oak forests at altitudes of between 2900 and 3000 m above sealevel, where it forms ectomycorrhizal associations with Smooth-barked Mexican Pine, Pinus pseudostrobus, and Hartweg's Pine, Pinus hartwegii. The species is known only from central and southwestern Mexico.

The second new species is named Chroogomphus flavovinaceus, where 'flavovinaceus' means 'yellow-wine-coloured', in reference to the colour change observed when the Mushrooms are touched. These Mushrooms are 25-45 mm in diameter and convex maturing to planar-convex. They are a citrus-yellow or pale orange in colour, darkening to a wine-colour when touched, The underside of the Mushroom has yellow lamellae. The stipe 18-31 mm long and 7-24 mm wide, and is also citrus-yellow or pale orange in colour, darkening to a wine-colour when touched,

Chroogomphus flavovinaceus. Context of basidiomata. Pérez-Moreno et al. (2023).

Chroogomphus flavovinaceusI was found growing in Oak-Pine forests in Mexico and Michoacán states, where it forms ectomycorrhizal associations with the Chihuahua Pine, Pinus leiophylla.

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Phallus cremeo-ochraceus & Phallus rigidiindusiatus: Two new species of Stinkhorn from China.

Stinkhorns are gasteroid Basidiomycote Fungi (Basidiomycote Fungi with spores that develop inside their basidiocarps, rather than on the surface), found throughout the tropical, subtropical regions of the world. These Fungi produce foul-smelling, phallic-looking Mushrooms, which has given them mystic implications in the folklore of many cultures. At least 31 species of Stinkhorn are found in China, some of which are eaten, and even grown commercially. However, the exact taxonomic status of these Chinese Stinkhorns is often unclear, for example, the species Phallus indusiatus has been reported in south and southwestern China since the 1960s, but modern genetics-based taxonomic surveys have suggested that this species is restricted to South America, making the status of Chinese Stinkhorne populations given this name unclear.

In a paper published in the journal MycoKeys on 16 December 2021, Ting Li of the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China at the Institute of Microbiology of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences, and the College of Science at Tibet University, Wang-Qiu Deng, Bin Song and Ming Zhang, also of the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China at the Institute of Microbiology of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Mu Wang of the Tibet Agricultural and Animal Husbandry University, and Tai-Hui Li, one again of the State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China at the Institute of Microbiology of the Guangdong Academy of Sciences, describe two new species of Stinkhorns from south and southwest China, based upon populations previouslt assigned to Phallus indusiatus. 

The first new species described is named Phallus cremeo-ochraceus, which refers to the ochre colour of its receptacle (mushroom-head). It has a white or slightly pinkish indusium (net-like structure that hangs from the rim of the receptacle) and pseudostipe (stem). The species was confirmed as new based upon genetic analysis of individuals collected from leaf litter in a Bamboo grove in the Xiaoqikong Scenic Area in Libo County, Guizhou Province, in July 2020.

 

Basidiomata of Phallus cremeo-ochraceus. (a)-(c) GDGM 80700 d GDGM 85857. Scale bars: 5 cm (a), 2 cm (b), (d), 1 cm (c). Li et al. (2021).

The second new species is named Phallus rigidiindusiatus, which refers to the ridged nature of its indusium, which is particularly thick, and therefore rather stiff. This species was found growing in soil in broad-leafed forests and Bamboo groves, at a number of locations in Guangdong, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces.

 

Basidiomata of Phallus rigidiindusiatus. (a) GDGM 54237 (b) GDGM 85470 (c), (e), (f) GDGM 81196 (d) 81195. Scale bars: 5 cm (a)-(c), 3 cm (d), 2 cm (e), 1 cm (f). Li et al. (2021).

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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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