Phellodon secretus (Basidiomycota), a new hydnaceous fungus from northern pine woodlands

Abstract

Phellodon secretus Niemela & Kinnunen (Basidiomycota, Thelephorales) resembles Phellodon connatus (Schultz : Fr.) P. Karst., but differs in having a thinner stipe, cottony soft pileus, and smaller and more globose spores. Its ecology is peculiar: it is found in dry, old-growth pine woodlands, growing in sheltered places under strongly decayed trunks or rootstocks of pine trees, where there is a gap of only a few centim- eters between soil and wood. Basidiocarps emerge from humus as needle-like, ca. 1 mm thick, black stipes, and the pileus unfolds only after the stipe tip has contacted the overhanging wood. In its ecology and distribution the species resembles Hydnellum gracilipes (P. Karst.) P. Karst. It seems to be extremely rare, found in Northern boreal and Middle boreal vegetation zones, in areas with fairly continental climate.