A new addition to the Mycota of Lithuania

Kasparavičius J., Iršėnaitė R., 2023: A new addition to the Mycota of Lithuania. – Botanica, 29(1): 1–8. https:// doi.org/10.35513/Botlit.2023.1. 1 Twelve macrofungal species collected in 2012–2020 were identified as new records to the Lithuanian My-cota: Agaricus subperonatus , Desarmillaria ectypa , Entoloma eminens , Hebeloma quercetorum , Hydnellum scabrosum , Hygrophoropsis rufa , Hohenbuehelia unguicularis , Hortiboletus bubalinus , Lactarius mammosus , Lactarius scoticus , Melanogaster broomeanus , Schizophyllum amplum . Descriptions of the fungi studied and notes on their habitats and distribution are provided.


INTRoDuCTIoN
Basidiomycetous fungi constitute a significant part of terrestrial ecosystems and play an essential role in ecosystems and various aspects of human life (Peay et al., 2016;Sridhar & Deshmukh, 2021;Bahram & Netherway, 2022).They have received much attention due to their role in environmental conservation, atmospheric pollution and forest health monitoring (Sverdrup-Thygeson & Lindenmayer, 2003;Heilmann-Clausen et al., 2015).Some show population decline trends in Europe (Arnolds, 1991).Global conservation assessments of 467 fungi species have recently been published (Mueller et al., 2022).Effective conservation strategies require perfect knowledge about species diversity and their ecology (Runnel et al., 2014;Lõhmus et al., 2018).
The first publication on Lithuanian fungi was published by J. E. Gilibert in 1781, where 35 fungal species were described.over the next two and a half hundred years, about 1800 basidiomycetous macrofungi species have been described and summarised in publications in Lithuania (Gricius & Matelis, 1996;Mazelaitis, 1976Mazelaitis, , 1982;;urbonas et al., 1986;urbonas, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005;Shiryaev & Iršėnaitė, 2009;Iršėnaitė, 2010).In the last two decades, only a few species of basidiomycetous macrofungi have been published as new to Lithuania (Iršėnaitė, 2004;Iršėnaitė et al., 2013).During this time, species new to Lithuania and Europe have been described, such as Aureoboletus projectellus (Motiejūnaitė et al., 2011), formally a North American species, which has been spreading along the Baltic Sea for several decades.Tricholoma joachimii, a rare species, has been recorded in Lithuania as a north-eastern European record for this species (Iršėnaitė et al., 2022).
Lithuania belongs to the temperate and hemiboreal zones and, respectively, sections of these zones (Ahti et al., 1968).These zones and the differences in environmental conditions specific to these zones determine the biodiversity, thereby, the diversity of mycobiota in Lithuania.
This study aims to contribute to the addition of the Lithuanian mycobiota and broaden our knowledge about it.

MATERIALS AND METHoDS
The fungal specimens were collected during field trips between 2012 and 2020, mainly in broad-leaved and pine forests in southern and eastern Lithuania, also provided by amateur mycologists.During the field surveys, the macroscopic and ecological characteristics of the specimens were recorded.All fungi were collected for subsequent microscopical identification in the laboratory.The microscopic structures were examined using a Nikon Eclipse Ci-S light microscope.Squashed fungus tissue preparations were mounted in water and 5% KoH solution.Measurements were carried out in water.Identification was based on relevant literature (Heilman-Clausen et al., 1998;Knudsen & Vesterholt, 2012;Kränzlin, 2005;Nitare & Högberg, 2012;Vesterholt, 2005).Descriptions are based on the examined specimens.Voucher specimens are deposited at the Herbarium of the Nature Research Centre (BILAS) in Vilnius.Nomenclature corresponds to MycoBank Fungal Databases (http://www.mycobank.org).
The DNA of the fungal specimens was amplified using Platinum™ Direct PCR universal Master Mix (Invitrogen) and purified using ultraClean DNA Purification Kit (MoBio Laboratories, Inc., Carsbad, CA).The target ITS region was amplified using primer pairs ITS1F and ITS4 (Gardes & Bruns, 1993).The PCR products were sequenced on BaseClear (The Netherlands).Chromatograms of the sequences were manually checked and corrected using BioEdit software (Hall, 1999).The sequences obtained in this study were deposited in NCBI Gen-Bank.GenBank numbers were provided for the sequenced specimens.

RESuLTS AND DISCuSSIoN
Sixteen specimens were assigned to twelve species from eleven genera belonging to Basidiomycota, Agaricales (Agaricus, Desarmillaria, Entoloma, Hebeloma, Hohenbuehelia, Schizophyllum), Boletales (Hortiboletus, Hygrophoropsis, Melanogaster), Russulales (Lactarius) and Thelephorales (Hydnellum).We present a list of these species new to Lithuania with their localities, habitats, collection data, collector (leg.) and identifier (det.)names, specimen number in the Nature Research Centre Herbarium (BILAS) and sequence deposited in GenBank number, description of their morphology, notes on their ecology and distribution.Species are listed in alphabetical order.
Notes.Agaricus subperonatus grows in open areas, parks, gardens, pastures and cemeteries, prefers fertilised humus-rich soil and compost, and can be found in recently disturbed soil under deciduous trees.Saprotrophic.Widespread, but occasional in temperate and rare in the hemiboreal zone (Knudsen & Vesterholt, 2012).This fungus is also found in western North America (Kibby, 2011).
Notes.Entoloma eminens grows in rich, moist mixed forests on calcareous soils near Tilia and Corylus.Kokkonen (2015) has reported it from rich, moist, mixed Picea abies dominated forests, with scattered deciduous trees such as Populus tremula and Alnus incana.It is a recently described species and, perhaps for this reason, is unknown in many countries.The finding of this fungus in Lithuania indicates that, although it appears to be rare, its distribution may be underestimated, and the habitat in Lithuania supports the thesis (Noordeloos et al., 2018) that it is generally associated with thermophilous forests and boreal broad-leaved trees.However, the typical habitat for the species is still unknown.
Notes.Hebeloma quercetorum is a thermophilic species, widespread in southern Europe and rare but possibly overlooked in the temperate zone on calcareous soils.Mycorrhizal with deciduous trees such as Quercus (Quadraccia, 1993;Vesterholt, 2005) also Carpinus and Fagus, sometimes Tilia and Corylus.The finding of Hebeloma quercetorum in Lithuania supports the thesis that this fungus is widespread in Northern Europe (Vesterholt, 2005).
Notes.Fungus grows in urban areas, parks, lawns, and mycorrhizal with poplars (Populus) also lime (Tilia).The range of mycorrhizal hosts is probably wider and includes Betula, Fagus, Picea, Carpinus, Betula.H. bubalinus is known in several European countries.More widespread than previously thought, but possibly neglected (Assyov & Stoykov, 2011).The fungus habitat in Lithuania seems to be in the eastern part of its known geographic range, and further research is likely to reveal that this fungus is more widespread in Eastern Europe.However, the actual distribution is still not fully understood (Assyov & Stoykov, 2011).

Hydnellum scabrosum (Fr.) E. Larss., K.H. Larss. & Kõljalg
Description.Basidiomata hydnoid, cap 12 cm, convex to flattened, brownish, covered with brown scales.It can be tinged with pink at the margins and darken with age.The mushroom has yellow-brown 5 × 0.3 mm spines under the cap.They are decurrent to the stem.Stem 2-12 × 1-6 cm pinkish brown, base greyish green.Flesh whitish to pinkish, grey to black or greenish in the stem base.Hyphae without clamp connections.odour is not significant, but tastes bitter.Basidiospores 5-6 × 4-5 µm; irregularly globose to subglobose; nodulose.Spore print brown.Notes.It grows in lichen-dominated pine forests, on roadsides or small forest paths, next to older pines, mycorrhizal with Pinus.The fungus is a signal species indicating habitats of high nature value in coniferous forests (Nitare, 2000).Hydnellum scabrosum is known in several European countries, very rare in Denmark (Danmarks Svampeatlas, 2016) and rare in Poland (Wojewoda, 2003).
Notes.Hygrophoropsis rufa grows on or near conifer stumps and trunks, on conifer woodchips and sometimes on sawdust.Saprotrophic.Probably widespread in Europe, but its distribution needs to be clarified.Fungus is occasional in hemiboreal-southern boreal, possibly also in middle boreal, rare in the temperate zone (Knudsen & Vesterholt, 2012), and rare in Poland (Wojewoda, 2003).

Lactarius scoticus Berk. & Broome
Description.Basidiomata agaricoid, cap 14-60 mm, convex to expanded with depressed centre, surface smooth, dry, an increasingly felt-like texture moving towards the margin, pale cream to whitish, later becoming pale pinkish-buff to cream, with a more yellowish to yellowish-brown centre.Gills crowded, adnate to decurrent, whitish to pale pinkish buff, sometimes forked near the stem attachment.Stem 20-70 × 4-10 mm, cylindrical to slightly club-shaped, smooth to finely felty, light cream to pinkish buff.The flesh colour is similar to the outer surfaces.Taste acrid, odour acidic to fruity.Latex is white and has an immediately acrid taste.Basidiospores 5.5-7 × 5-5.5 µm, broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid.Spore print pale cream.Notes.Fungus is associated with European peat bogs (very wet Betula-Salix carrs), where it grows among mosses in a mycorrhizal association with birch (Betula) species.L. scoticus is occasional in the temperate-subarctic zone (Knudsen & Vesterholt, 2012), and rare in Latvia (Latvijas Daba, 2023).
Notes.Fungus grows on dead, mostly rotting twigs, and branches of deciduous trees Populus and Salix in open places, often 1-2 m above the ground in alluvial and swamp forests.The species is rare in the temperate zone and other parts of Europe (Wojewoda, 2006;Robinson et al., 2011).
It is worth mentioning that more than half of recorded specimens were found in different natureprotected areas of Lithuania: the Čepkeliai Strict Nature Reserve, the Girutiškis Strict Nature Reserve, the Viešvilė Strict Nature Reserve and the Žuvintas Strict Nature Reserve.
This fact and the occurrence of rare species increase the natural value of these nature protection areas and provide grounds for intensifying their mycological study.