Studies in Leccinoid Fungi

Studies in Leccinoid Fungi

Michael Kuo and Beatriz Ortiz-Santana     


The leccinoid fungi are boletes (and related sequestrate mushrooms) that have traditionally been placed in Leccinum, Boletus, Leccinellum, and a handful of other, less familiar genera. The mushrooms generally feature scabers or scaber-like dots on the surface of the stem, and they are often fairly tall and slender when compared to other boletes. They are mycorrhizal fungi, and they appear to be fairly strictly associated with specific trees or groups of related trees.

Our studies investigate the leccinoid fungi of North and Central America: their ecology, morphology, and phylogeny. The working hypothesis for our research, suggested by previous studies, is that mycorrhizal host specificity roughly correlates to the major groups of leccinoid fungi--and that species groups can be further delineated with a combination of molecular and morphological characters. Our eventual aim is to determine species delimitations among the leccinoid fungi of North and Central America.


Collections Needed

We are seeking well-documented, well-preserved collections of leccinoid fungi from North and Central America. Given our working hypothesis (see above), the collections we study should be accompanied by good ecological data, photographs of the mushrooms in the fresh state, and notes on morphological features not revealed in photos. Please consult and fill out the leccinoid fungi data sheet during the process of collecting and documenting mushrooms. Because leccinoid fungi are fairly robust, using a food dehydrator is the only method of preservation that is likely to work very well; individual specimens should be dried whole or sliced once, lengthwise (for further information on drying specimens with a dehydrator, please see this page). Please do not hesitate to contact us (at ) with any questions about collection and preservation of specimens.


Findings

We presented some preliminary findings in a poster at the 2014 meeting of the Mycological Society of America. The poster (linked below) contained preliminary phylogenies of leccinoid fungi, and the results suggest that the taxonomy of leccinoid fungi may be in need of revision.


Studies in Leccinoid Fungi


Contact

Please contact us at if you have questions about our research, or if you would like to contribute collections of leccinoid fungi.









Cite this page as:

Kuo, M & B. Ortiz-Santana (2014, September). Studies in leccinoid fungi. Retreived from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/studies_leccinoid.html.