Fungalpedia – Note 2385, Cortinarius
Cortinarius. (Pers.) Gray.
Citation when using this data: Yuan HS et al. 2020 – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1
Classification: Cortinariaceae, Agaricales, Agaricomycetidae, Agaricomycetes, Agaricomycotina, Basidiomycota, Fungi
Notes: The ectomycorrhizal genus Cortinarius is the most species-rich group of macrofungi with a worldwide distribution (e.g. Garnica et al. 2016). Recently, in the DNA era, new possibilities have become available to discover new species from under-investigated parts of the world, combining molecular, morphological and ecological data to help reveal the true diversity of this large genus. In the course of our studies of Cortinarius in north-western India, we discovered several new species-level lineages with the aid of phylogenetic analysis combined with morphological and ecological observations. Two of them are here reported as new species, one belongs to the sect. Percomes Melot and the other to the sect. Rubicunduli Soop, B. Oertel & Dima (in prep.).
Sect. Percomes is a phlegmacioid lineage with characteristic morphology such as yellowish orange to greenish yellow colours caused by anthraquinonoid pigments in the basidiocarps, peculiar odours, and a red KOH reaction in the context. They are as a rule associated with either coniferous or deciduous host trees. All described species are known only from Europe or North America (Brandrud et al. 1990–2018; Liimatainen et al. 2014; Frøslev et al. 2017), and the collection from India appeared to be a new species based on ITS phylogeny and morphology/ecology. Furthermore, it is the first report of a member of this section from Asia.
Cortinarius rubicundulus (Pers.) Fr. has been treated as a species without close relatives within the genus Cortinarius for a long time, until C. subgemmeus Soop from New Zealand was described (Soop 2003). Together they form an isolated lineage in all phylogenies supported also by morphology, including the presence of remarkable cheilocystidia. This lineage was recently described as sect. Rubicunduli (Soop et al. 2019). Rubicunduli is a diverse group of Cortinarius with at least twelve species worldwide including this new species from India.
Type species: Cortinarius indorusseus Dima, K.C. Semwal, V.K. Bhatt & Brandrud, in Yuan et al., Fungal Diversity 104: 107 (2020).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Cortinarius.
Figure 1 – Basidiocarp and spores of Cortinarius indorusseus (KCS 2470, holotype).a–b Basidiocarp. c Spores. Scale bar: c =10 µm
References
Brandrud TE, Lindström H, Marklund H, Melot J, Muskos S (1990–2018) Cortinarius, Flora Photographica. Vol. I–V (English version). Cortinarius HB, Sweden
Soop K (2003) Contribution à l’étude de la mycoflore cortinarioïde de Nouvelle-Zélande II. Bull Soc mycol Fr 118:173–194
Entry by
Hai-Sheng Yuan, CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110164, People’s Republic of China, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China
Published online 30 April 2026