A tiny, fragile-looking mushroom sporting a honey-yellow ‘cap’ found on the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) at Palode here has been identified as a new species.
Turning the spotlight once again on the remarkable Western Ghats biodiversity, the discovery also gives fresh impetus to the study of the region’s fungal diversity.
Researchers at the JNTBGRI identified and described the new species as belonging to the genus Candolleomyces, a relatively small genus with just 35 species recognised worldwide. A paper by C. K. Pradeep, Principal Scientist, Microbiology Division, and P. K. Nayana, Research Student, of JNTBGRI highlighting the findings has been published in the scientific journal Phytotaxa.
