Affinities of the Boletus chromapes group to Royoungia and the description of two new genera, Harrya and Australopilus

Abstract

Harrya is described as a new genus of Boletaceae to accommodate Boletus chromapes, a pink-capped bolete with a finely scabrous stipe adorned with pink scabers, a chrome yellow base and a reddish-brown spore deposit. Harrya is a unique generic lineage with two species, one of which is newly described (H. atriceps). Some Chinese taxa were recently placed in a separate genus, Zangia, supported by both morphology and molecular data. Multiple accessions from Queensland, Australia, support the synonymy of at least three species in a separate Australian clade in the new genus, Australopilus. The truffle-like Royoungia is also supported as a separate lineage in this clade of boletes. Even though it lacks stipe characters, it possesses the deep, bright yellow to orange pigments in the peridium. Additional collections from Zambia and Thailand represent independent lineages of uncertain phylogenetic placement in the Chromapes complex, but sampling is insufficient for formal description of new species. Specimens from Java referable to Tylopilus pernanus appear to be a sister group of the Harrya lineage.

Citation

Halling, Roy E.; Nuhn, Mitchell; Osmundson, Todd; Fechner, Nigel; Trappe, James M.; Soytong, Kasem; Arora, David; Hibbett, David S.; Binder, Manfred. 2012. Affinities of the Boletus chromapes group to Royoungia and the description of two new genera, Harrya and Australopilus. Australian Systematic Botany. 25: 418-431.