Search

ABSTRACTChanterelles (genus Cantharellus) are among the most popular wild edible mushrooms worldwide. Efforts to understand chanterelle diversity have yielded numerous new species in recent years, particularly in eastern North America. We constructed a multilocus phylogeny including all described temperate species of Cantharellusand newly collected specimens from the eastern United States with an emphasis on southern Appalachia. We describe a new species, Cantharellus vicinus, an oak-associated chanterelle known only from lower-elevation areas in east Tennessee, based on phylogenetic and morphological data. Cantharellus vicinusis characterized by a compact stature, bright yellow hymenophore that turns salmon when mature, white stipe, and pale yellow pileus with a whitish bloom. The southeastern Cantharellus minorf. intensissimusis elevated to species level based on morphological and molecular evidence. The taxon is epitypified due to the sterile state of the holotype and ambiguity concerning application of the name. Evaluation of genetic diversity and gene conflict within Cantharellus camphoratusshows that it is a widespread species with populations in Atlantic Canada, the southeastern United States, and Japan. Similarly, C. cibariusand C. tenuithrixform complexes and may be more geographically widespread than previously thought. Additionally, we report the first known instances of Cantharellus betularum, C. corallinus, and C. altipesfrom the southern Appalachian Mountains.

A systematic revision of North American species with morphological similarities to Inocybe grammatawas conducted based on materials collected in eastern and western North America and Central America. Eight taxa are confirmed in the group proposed here as I.sect. Albodiscaesect. nov., species of which are often characterized by a bicolorous pileus with a distinct pallid disc, the margin covered with superficial silky fibrils, entirely pruinose stipe with a slight or obvious marginate bulbous base, angular to angular-nodulose basidiospores with comparatively few nodules, and thick-walled cystidia. Species in the section are mainly distinguished by basidiome size, pileus color and texture, variation in basidiospore length and number of nodules, to some extent geographic location, and plant association. The section includes the widely distributed I. grammata(= I. albodisca), which associates with conifers and birch in eastern North America; I. albodiscoidessp. nov. from the Pacific Northwest, previously subsumed under I. grammataand I. albodisca; I. floridanafrom northern Florida, reported for the first time in more than 75 years; I. acriolens, an apparent associate of hemlock and pine in southeast Canada and the northeast U.S.; I. grammatoides, an aspen associate in northern regions of the U.S. and southeast Canada; I. velicopiasp. nov., a widely distributed associate of oak and chestnut in the eastern U.S. and Costa Rica; I. panamicasp. nov. from oak and oak-Oreomunnea(Juglandaceae) forests in Costa Rica and Panama; and I. vestalis, a European species sister to the rest of sect. Albodiscaebut lacking the distinct bicolored pileus. Independent phylogenies of ITS+28S, rpb2, and rpb1are inferred. Taxonomic descriptions, illustrations, and/or notes of the North American taxa are provided.

ABSTRACTA systematic reevaluation of North American pyrophilous or “burn-loving” species of Pholiotais presented based on molecular and morphological examination of type and historical collections. Confusion surrounds application of the names P. brunnescens, P. carbonaria, P. castanea, P. fulvozonata, P. highlandensis, P. molesta, and P. subsaponacea, with multiple names applied to a single species and multiple species described more than once. Molecular annotations using nuc rDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (internal transcribed spacer [ITS] barcode) and RPB2(RNA polymerase II second largest subunit) are used to aid in application of these names in a phylogenetic context. Based on ITS molecular annotations of 13 types, the following heterotypic synonymies are proposed: P. highlandensis(syn. P. carbonariaand P. fulvozonata); P. molesta(syn. P. subsaponacea); and P. brunnescens(syn. P. luteobadia). In addition, we observed that the species P. castanea, known previously only from the type collection in Tennessee, is found commonly on burned sites near the Gulf Coast and other southeast regions of the United States. Overall, the pyrophilous trait is evolutionarily derived in Pholiota. Endophytic and endolichenic stages were deduced for P. highlandensis, the most widely distributed of the pyrophilous Pholiota. As a result, we introduce the “body snatchers” hypothesis that explains the maintenance of some pyrophilous fungi in ecosystems as endophytes and/or endolichenic fungi. Photographs, taxonomic descriptions, and a dichotomous key to pyrophilous species of Pholiotathat occur in North America are presented.

ABSTRACTThe Inocybe geophyllagroup is circumscribed based on phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences largely sampled from North America and Europe. Twenty-nine phylogenetic species are uncovered after analysis of combined nuc 28S rDNA (28S) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2) DNA sequence data. Species in the I. geophyllagroup share the presence of a cortina, silky-fibrillose pileus and stipe, pruinose stipe apex, spermatic odor, thick-walled hymenial cystidia, and smooth amygdaliform or elliptical basidiospores. Within the group, as many as five phylogenetic species attributable to I. lilacinaand allies form a strongly supported clade based on analysis of nuc ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA (ITS [internal transcribed spacer]), 28S, and rpb2data. However, all lilac-colored species do not form a monophyletic group. Sufficient morphological and ecological data are present to document four of the I. lilacinasubgroup species, two of which are described from North America as new: I. ionocephalaand I. sublilacina. Inocybe lilacinais recircumscribed based on sequencing the holotype and is distributed in the eastern United States under pines and/or hardwoods. Inocybe pallidicremeais a widespread and common conifer associate in mostly northern parts of North America, to which the name I. lilacinawas previously applied. Descriptions, photographs, line drawings, and a taxonomic key to lilac species in the I. lilacinasubgroup from North America are provided. Well-documented collections, especially notes on gross morphology and ecology, are needed to continue to assess and describe the high taxonomic variation in the I. lilacinasubgroup and its allies worldwide.