First report of Pterygellus from Rajmahal hills of Jharkhand (India) and its relation to Craterellus (Hydnaceae, Cantharellales)

Abstract

In this paper, the authors report on first Craterellus collections from the poorly explored tropical deciduous scrub forest of Rajmahal hills, Jharkhand, India. In this habitat, dominated by Shorea robusta (Dipterocarpaceae), a yellow to orange craterelloid species was abundantly growing in caespitose troops all over the forest floor. Morphological analysis and sequence data from the nucLSU revealed these specimens to belong to a hitherto undescribed Craterellus. As the new species is morphologically identical to Pterygellus polymorphus var. minor, our results suggest that Pterygellus is a later synonym of Craterellus.