North American matsutake: names clarified and a new species described

ABSTRACT

Tricholoma matsutake, known widely as “matsutake,” has great commercial and cultural significance in Japan. Because Japanese production is insufficient to meet the high domestic demand, morphologically similar mushrooms, thought by many to belong to T. magnivelare, are imported from western North America. However, molecular data produced since the early 2000s have indicated that more than one species of matsutake occur in North America and this raises the question of correct naming for the different species. To address this question, we assessed the phylogenetic diversity within North American matsutake based on nuc rDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (internal transcribed spacer [ITS] barcode) sequences, including newly obtained sequences from the type collections for Agaricus ponderosus and Armillaria arenicola, and morphological characters. Our results agree with earlier indications that three matsutake species occur in North America and allow us to clarify the correct application of names—T. magnivelare from the eastern USA and Canada, T. murrillianum from the western USA and Canada, and T. mesoamericanum from Mexico, newly described here. The existence of the three North American species is further supported by the results of evolutionary divergence analysis, geographical distributions, and morphological characters.

KEYWORDS:

• Agaricus magnivelaris
• Armillaria ponderosa
• commercial mushroom harvesting
• molecular phylogenetics
• North American mycoflora
• pine mushroom
• Tricholoma ponderosum

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Lilia Pérez-Ramírez, Anna Moore, and John Getz for their assistance with field work and Noah Siegel, John Getz, and Anna Moore for providing material for study; Andrus Voitk for inciting this study and providing collections from Newfoundland and input to the species descriptions; the staffs of the following herbaria for the loan of collections for study—FCME, NY, NYS, OSC, and WTU; Karen Hughes, Clark Ovrebo, Erica Cline, and Diantha Dougil for use of previously unpublished sequences; the Farlow Library and Herbarium of Harvard University, Michael Burzynski, Jukka Vauras, and Akiyoshi Yamada for providing illustrations and photographs; Gro Gulden, Noah Siegel, and Else Vellinga for their helpful reviews of a draft of this paper; and the reviewers of the submitted manuscript.

FUNDING

I.S. was supported by the institutional research funding IUT20-30 of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research and by the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence EcolChange).

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Additional information

Funding

I.S. was supported by the institutional research funding IUT20-30 of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research and by the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence EcolChange).