Psathyrella immaculata is a rare and little-studied species. Since it was first described in 1987, only 15 records of this mushroom have been registered worldwide in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) database.
All previous finds were made in Europe: two in Denmark and 13 in Switzerland. In Tomsk Oblast, the mushroom was discovered in the floodplain of the Bakchar River near Polynyanka, becoming the third record site in the world.
Two more species new to Russia were found among spider webs and identified using DNA analysis. These are Thaxterogaster talimultiformis, or the variable-like spider web, and the deep-rooted spider web (Cortinarius radicosissimus).
Thaxterogaster talimultiformis is a rare conditionally edible mushroom whose name is associated with its variable shape and coloration. Spider webs are one of the most numerous and difficult-to-identify groups of mushrooms, and the Cortinariaceae family includes several thousand species.
Tomsk State University noted that most representatives of this family are poisonous to humans, but they play an important role in forest ecosystems as mycorrhiza-forming organisms. Sergey Kulizhsky, Vice-Rector for Social and Educational Work at Tomsk State University, Doctor of Biological Sciences, and Head of the Department of Soil Science and Soil Ecology at the Biological Institute of Tomsk State University, said that the list of macromycetes in Tomsk Oblast has grown to 1,584 species, and the region remains in the top 10 in Russia for the level of mycobiota study.
Scientists from several departments of the Biological Institute of Tomsk State University, staff of the Botanical Garden, students, and an IT specialist took part in the study. In difficult cases, specialists from Yugra State University, the Komarov Botanical Institute, and European colleagues were brought in for expertise; the results of the work will be presented in the new issue of the journal “Systematic Notes on the Materials of the P. N. Krylov Herbarium of Tomsk State University”.
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