Two new species of Xerocomus (Boletales) from the Indian Himalaya

Abstract

Xerocomus garhwalensis and Xerocomus rishikeshinus (Boletales, Basidiomycota) are described as species new to science from specimens collected in the Himalayas of northwestern India. Both were found in forests dominated by banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus), and they presumably form ectomycorrhizal associations with this tree species. Xerocomus has been variously defined morphologically, and a number of the species now assigned to the genus are sometimes considered to be members of the genus Boletus. The two new species were placed in Xerocomus largely on the basis of DNA sequence data, which are still rather limited for the assemblage of macrofungi present in northwestern India.