NEW MUSHROOM IN WESTERN GHATS - ENVIRONMENT

News: Researchers identify a new mushroom species from the Western Ghats

 

What's in the news?

       Recently, A tiny, fragile-looking mushroom sporting a honey-yellow ‘cap’ found on the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) at Palode has been identified as a new species in the Western Ghats.

 

About the mushroom:

       This new species belongs to the genus Candolleomyces, a relatively small genus with just 35 species recognised worldwide.

       The new species, which is quite cute in appearance, has been named Candolleomyces albosquamosus - ‘albosquamosus’ for the white wooly scale-like structures on its pileus or cap.

       Delicate in build, the mushroom grows to a height of just about 58 mm.

       The ‘cap,’ or pileus, of a mature Candolleomyces album squamosus is 12 mm to 38.5 mm in diameter and bell-shaped.

       The honey-yellow coloured pileus turns brownish-gray or brownish-beige with age.

       The ‘stipe’ , the stem or stalk of the mushroom , is white in color and cylindrical.