Phylogenetic and morphological evidence reveals six new species of boletus from southern China

Abstract

Fungi of the order Boletales are extremely important in both ecology and economy, since most of them are ectomycorrhizal fungi, which play vital roles in maintaining forest ecosystems, water and soil protection, vegetation restoration and so on. Although previous studies have shown that this order has a very high species diversity in China, there are few reports on the species diversity of boletus in Jiangxi Province, China. We have systematically investigated the macrofungi diversity of Jiangxi Wuyishan National Nature Reserve for five years, where the natural conditions is excellent, the ecological environment is well protected and the diversity of macrofungi is abundant. Based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses, we described 6 new boletus species, i.e. Austroboletus albus, Tapinella qixianensis, Xanthoconium violaceipes, Xanthoconium violaceofuscum, Xerocomus rutilans and Xerocomus subsplendidus. All the new species were described and illustrated in detail.