Diversity and ecological evaluation of Chroogomphus species in Hungary

Balázs Palla, Bálint Dima & Viktor Papp

Sydowia 76: 243-262

Published online on August 5th, 2024

As a result of recent extensive molecular investigations unravelling the European diversity of the genus Chroogomphus, the regional species composition became an impending question to resolve. In Hungary, this genus has previously been examined only based on morphological characteristics, from which data were known for the species Chroogomphus rutilus and Chroogomphus helveticus. Therefore, in the present study, in addition to thorough morphological examinations, we also conducted molecular genetic analyses. Our phylogenetic analyses based on the ITS region of Hungarian Chroogomphus collections verified the presence of four Chroogomphus species from the country: C. rutilus, C. mediterraneus, C. helveticus and C. subfulmineus, from mostly the naturalised range of their Pinus hosts. The ecological context of these occurrences in Hungarian Pinus plantations are evaluated based on bioclimatic, edaphic and forestry data. As additional support for species delimitation and morphological based identification, some novel morphological characters and the revision of former traits are also presented, in order to facilitate further research on the regional species composition and ecological connections of European Chroogomphus species.

Keywords: Gomphidiaceae, Basidiomycota, molecular phylogeny, ecology, micromorphology.

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