Cortinarius ainsworthii
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cortinarius ainsworthii | |
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| Type specimen | |
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| Spores | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Cortinariaceae |
| Genus: | Cortinarius |
| Species: | C. ainsworthii |
| Binomial name | |
| Cortinarius ainsworthii Liimat. & Niskanen (2020) | |
Cortinarius ainsworthii is a species of webcap. It is known from central and Northern Europe, where it grows in a variety of habitats. The species was first described in 2020, and was named in honour of the mycologist A. Martyn Ainsworth. Along with five other British webcaps, C. ainsworthii was selected by Kew Gardens as a highlight of taxa described by the organisation's staff and affiliates in 2020.
Cortinarius ainsworthii was described in a 2020 research note in the journal Fungal Diversity by Kare Liimatainen and Tuula Niskanen. The description was based on a collection made by A. Martyn Ainsworth in 2017 in Devil's Dyke, near Brighton, England. The specific name honours Ainsworth. Phylogenetic analysis placed the species in Cortinarius sect. Bovini.[1]
Collections previously identified as C. rheubarbarinus match with C. ainsworthii, though the type specimen of C. rheubarbarinus does not. A published ITS sequence of the type specimen of C. hydrobivelus matches with C. ainsworthii, but Liimatainen and Niskanen's unpublished sequencing of the specimen does not. Instead, it matches C. armeniacus. Based on this analysis, as well as morphological and ecological factors, Liimatainen and Niskanen concluded that C. hydrobivelus was a synonym of C. armeniacus, leaving their species (now described as C. ainsworthii) lacking a valid name.[1]
C. britannicus was one of over 150 botanical and mycological taxa described by staff or affiliates of Kew Gardens in 2020. In a year-end round-up, Kew scientists selected ten highlights, one of which was six newly described British Cortinarius species: C. ainsworthii described from Brighton; C. britannicus from Caithness; C. scoticus and C. aurae from the Black Wood of Rannoch; C. subsaniosus from Cumbria; and C. heatherae from Heathrow Airport.[2][3][4] In a press release, Kew identified Cortinarius species as "ecologically important in supporting the growth of plants, particularly trees such as oak, beech, birch and pine" and playing "a key role in the carbon cycling of woodlands and providing nitrogen to trees".[2]
