Cortinarius heatherae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cortinarius heatherae | |
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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. heatherae |
| Binomial name | |
| Cortinarius heatherae Overall (2020) | |
Cortinarius heatherae is a species of webcap. It was described in 2020 by Andy Overall from a specimen found at Heathrow Airport. He named the species in honour of his wife, Heather Overall. Along with five other British webcaps, C. heatherae was selected by Kew Gardens as a highlight of taxa described by the organisation's staff and affiliates in 2020.
Cortinarius heatherae was described in a 2020 research note in the journal Fungal Diversity by Andy Overall. The description was based on a collection made by Overall in 2018 at Heathrow Airport, England.[1] The specific name honours Heather Overall, Andy Overall's wife.[1][2] Phylogenetic analysis placed the species in Cortinarius sect. Bovini. It is closely related to C. subbrunneus, and is a sister species to both C. subbrunneus and C. subbrunneoideus.[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. heatherae described from Heathrow Airport; C. ainsworthii from Brighton; C. britannicus from Caithness; C. scoticus and C. aurae from the Black Wood of Rannoch; and C. subsaniosus from Cumbria.[3][2][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".[3]
