The ectomycorrhizal milkcap genus Lactifluus (Russulaceae) is commonly found in tropical and subtropical forests of Southeast Asia. During several sampling expeditions in Thailand, multiple collections of Lactifluus (Lf.) species with pleurotoid or small agaricoid basidiocarps were found. A molecular study was combined with a morphological study, in which the collections were compared with herbarium material. The molecular study indicated that four Thai collections belonged to undescribed species within Lactifluus section Gerardii, as was also the case for herbarium collections of a pleurotoid species from Nepal. One other collection from Thailand appeared closely related to Lf. uyedae, known only from Japan. Five species are described as new in the genus: Lf. auriculiformis, Lf. gerardiellus, Lf. bhandaryi, Lf. pulchrellus, and Lf. raspei.

Repeated macrofungal explorations, followed by thorough examination of species through morphology and molecular phylogeny, have made it clear that European and American names of wild mushrooms were inadvertently misapplied quite often to Asian lookalikes by mycologists/taxonomists in the past. Therefore, in order to reveal this mushroom treasure, in recent years, taxonomical research on wild mushrooms has been intensified in Asian countries, including India, by undertaking a combined approach of morpho-taxonomy and multigene molecular phylogeny. Boletoid mushrooms (Boletaceae) are no exception. While working on boletoid mushrooms of the Indian Himalayas, authors recently came across six interesting species of boletoid mushrooms. In the present communication, four novel species, namely Leccinellum binderi, Cyanoboletus paurianus, Xerocomus uttarakhandae, and Xerocomellus himalayanus, are established based on morphology and molecular phylogenetic estimations. Moreover, Cyanoboletus macroporus and Xerocomus fraternus are also reported here for the first time in India.

The genus Lactocollybia (incertae sedis, Agaricales) is a small and relatively understudied group of mushrooms, exhibiting unique morphological and ecological characteristics. Most species have a saprobic lifestyle, distributed in tropical to subtropical regions. Currently, the phylogenetic relationships of species remain poorly understood due to insufficient DNA sequence data of existing species. This study is an integrative approach, combining morphological characteristics and molecular analyses using nrITS and two-locus (nrITS-nrLSU) phylogenetic estimation. For the latter, we tested phylogenetic lineages of publicly available nrITS sequences and six samples from Thailand. Our phylogenies have revealed that Thai samples are placed in three phylogenetic clades, in which one of them is proposed as a new species, L. polyhabitata, whereas L. variicystis is reported for the first time from Thailand, suggesting a broader distribution of this species in the tropical region. Another species, L. cf. epia, has been critically analyzed for its affinity towards L. epia. All studied species are placed in phylogenetic clades with a multitude of collections from different continents, which suggests the evidence of intercontinental conspecificity across tropical and subtropical regions.

Lactifluus (Pers.) Roussel is an ectomycorrhizal genus that was recently recognized to be distinct from the genus Lactarius. To date, 226 Lactifluus species have been reported worldwide. Misidentification of Lactifluus species is common because of intraspecific morphological variation, cryptic diversity, and the limited number of taxonomic keys available. Molecular data are indispensable for species delimitation; a multilocus phylogenetic analysis showed that most Asian Lactifluus species are not conspecific with morphologically similar species present on other continents. In particular, Korea has misused European and North American Lactifluus names. In this study, we evaluated the taxonomy of Lactifluus in Korea using both morphological and multilocus molecular (ITS, nrLSU, rpb1, and rpb2) data. We examined 199 Lactifluus specimens collected between 1980 and 2016, and a total of 24 species across the four Lactifluus subgenera were identified. All Korean species are distinct and clearly separated from European and North American species. Five taxa corresponded to previously described species from Asia and the remaining 19 taxa are confirmed as new species. Herein, we provide keys to the Korean Lactifluus species within their subgenera, molecular phylogenies, a summary of diversity, and detailed description of the new species.

The genus Macrolepiota (Agaricales, Basidiomycota) is easy to recognize at the genus level because of big, fleshy basidiocarps with squamules covering the pileus; a single or double annulus; and big, thick-walled basidiospores with a germ pore. However, morphological identification is often unreliable in Macrolepiota due to similar morphological features among species. Due to the uncertainty of previous morphological identification in the genus Macrolepiota, it is necessary to re-examine Korean Macrolepiota using molecular data. We re-examined 34 Macrolepiota specimens collected from 2012 to 2018 in Korea using a reverse taxonomic approach, whereby species identification was first done based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region analysis, followed by morphological confirmation. We identified the presence of four species: M. detersa, M. mastoidea, M. procera, and M. umbonata sp. nov. Two species (M. detersa and M. mastoidea) were previously unrecorded from Korea and M. umbonata is a new species. Detailed descriptions of all four species and taxonomic key are provided in this study. Macrolepiota procera and M. umbonata are distributed through the country, but M. detersa and M. mastoidea are distributed only in limited areas. According to our results, the combination of ITS locus and morphology proved to be a robust approach to evaluate the taxonomic status of Macrolepiota species in Korea. Additional surveys are needed to verify the species diversity and clarify their geographic distribution.