Concordance of multigene genealogy along with morphological evidence unveils five novel species and two new records of boletoid mushrooms (fungi) from India.

Agaricales, Russulales and Boletales are dominant orders among the wild mushrooms in Basidiomycota. Boletaceae, one of the major functional elements in terrestrial ecosystem and mostly represented by ectomycorrhizal symbionts of trees in Indian Himalaya and adjoining hills, are extraordinarily diverse and represented by numerous genera and species which are unexplored or poorly known. Therefore, their hidden diversity is yet to be revealed. Extensive macrofungal exploration by the authors to different parts of Himalaya and surroundings, followed by through morphological studies and multigene molecular phylogeny lead to the discovery of five new species of wild mushrooms: Leccinellum bothii sp. nov., Phylloporus himalayanus sp. nov., Phylloporus smithii sp. nov., Porphyrellus uttarakhandae sp. nov., and Retiboletus pseudoater sp. nov. Present communication deals with morphological details coupled with illustrations and phylogenetic inferences. Besides, Leccinellum sinoaurantiacum and Xerocomus rugosellus are also reported for the first time from this country.

Four Novel Species and Two New Records of Boletes from India.

Repeated macrofungal explorations, followed by thorough examination of species through morphology and molecular phylogeny, have made it clear that European and American names of wild mushrooms were inadvertently misapplied quite often to Asian lookalikes by mycologists/taxonomists in the past. Therefore, in order to reveal this mushroom treasure, in recent years, taxonomical research on wild mushrooms has been intensified in Asian countries, including India, by undertaking a combined approach of morpho-taxonomy and multigene molecular phylogeny. Boletoid mushrooms (Boletaceae) are no exception. While working on boletoid mushrooms of the Indian Himalayas, authors recently came across six interesting species of boletoid mushrooms. In the present communication, four novel species, namely Leccinellum binderi, Cyanoboletus paurianus, Xerocomus uttarakhandae, and Xerocomellus himalayanus, are established based on morphology and molecular phylogenetic estimations. Moreover, Cyanoboletus macroporus and Xerocomus fraternus are also reported here for the first time in India.

Two new species and one new record of the genus Tylopilus (Boletaceae) from Indian Himalaya with morphological details and phylogenetic estimations.

Tylopilus himalayanus and T. pseudoballoui are described as new species from two Himalayan states (Sikkim and Uttarakhand) in India. Tylopilus himalayanus is characterised by a unique combination of features: reddish- or brownish-grey to purplish-grey then brown to reddish-brown or darker pileus, absence of olive or violet tinges on stipe surface, angular pores, stipe without reticulum or rarely with a faint reticulum restricted to the very apex, bitter taste of the context and positive macrochemical colour reaction of the stipe context with KOH (dark orange) and FeSO4 (dark green), medium sized (10.9-14.4 × 3.9-4.9 µm) basidiospores and occurrence under coniferous trees; T. pseudoballoui is distinguished by orange-yellow to brown-yellow sticky pileus, pale yellow pore surface with pinkish hues that turns pale to greyish-orange on bruising; angular pores, stipe concolorous to pileus with pruinose but never reticulate surface, ixocutis pattern of pileipellis and occurrence under broadleaf trees. Another species, T. neofelleus, which was reported earlier from China and Japan, was also collected from Sikkim and reported for the first time from India. All three species are described with morphological details and two-locus based (nrLSU and nrITS) phylogenetic data.

Gliophorusglutinosus sp. nov. (Hygrophoraceae, Agaricales) from Eastern Himalayan region of India.

An interesting species of the genus Gliophorus (sect.Glutinosae), collected from Sikkim Himalaya in India, is described here as G.glutinosus sp. nov. after thorough morphological examination and phylogenetic analysis. The species is mainly characterised by its strongly glutinous basidiomata throughout, particularly on the twisted stipe, decurrent lamellae with glutinous edge, gelatinised cheilocystidia, presence of pleuropseudocystidia and absence of clamps in hyphae of the pileipellis. This communication includes detailed morphological description, illustrations, comparison with the allied taxa, nrITS based phylogeny of this novel taxon and a key to the species under Gliophorussect.Glutinosae.

New species of xerocomoid boletes (Boletaceae) from Himalayan India based on morphological and molecular evidence.

Xerocomus doodhcha and Hortiboletus indorubellus (Boletaceae) from broadleaf montane forest in Sikkim, India, are proposed as new. They are described in detail with supporting morphological illustrations and compared with related taxa using molecular phylogenetic analysis of ITS and 28S rDNA sequences. Xerocomus doodhcha is characterized by a pale brown pileus, basidiospores with a finely bacillate surface under SEM, and phylogenetic proximity to the type species of Xerocomus, X. subtomentosus Hortiboletus indorubellus is characterized by a dark brown to reddish brown pileus, context that turns brownish to brownish orange on bruising, and phylogenetic proximity to Hortiboletus rubellus.