Morphological and molecular characterization of two species of Pholiota from North-western Himalaya, India

In the present communication, two members of the family Strophariaceae have been reported of which Pholiota populnea is a new record from India while P. squarrosa is the first regional record from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Pholiota populnea was found on the dead wood of Populus alba and is characterized by reddish-brown, to brownish orange pileus, with a cracked, pitted surface, forming deep ridges with scattered angular to polygonal warts, while as P. squarrosa , characterized by its pale yellow to yellowish pileus covered with pale yellow to yellowish-brown recurved scales, ellipsoid to elongated (8.1–10 × 5.0–6.2 μm) basidiospores, was associated with the basal part of the stem of the living tree of Abies pindrow. Detailed morphological description and nrITS-based phylogeny of both taxa are provided.