- Proposed
- Under Assessment
- Preliminary Assessed
- Assessed
- DDPublished
Gasterella luteophila Zeller & L.B. Walker
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- Scientific name
- Gasterella luteophila
- Author
- Zeller & L.B. Walker
- Common names
- IUCN Specialist Group
Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball- Kingdom
- Fungi
- Phylum
- Basidiomycota
- Class
- Agaricomycetes
- Order
- Boletales
- Family
- Gasterellaceae
- Assessment status
- Published
- Assessment date
- 2023-01-20
- IUCN Red List Category
- DD
- Assessors
- Susana C. Gonçalves; Susana Cunha (RBG Kew and University of Coimbrta, Portugal)
- Reviewers
- Gregory Mueller (Chicago Botanic Garden / IUCN SSC Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball Specialist Group)
Assessment Notes
The content on this page is fetched from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/266014541/266018564
Justification
Gasterella luteophila is a saprotrophic fungus only known from soil cultures from the United States of America. It has only been reported from soil collected at five sites, between 1932 and 1942, but fructification has not been reported from wild habitats. Given the very small size of the fruiting body, and the culture conditions needed for fructification, it is possible that this species has been forgotten by mycology. More updated information is needed to calculate the population size and trends, so the species is assessed as Data Deficient (DD).Taxonomic notes
The description of Gasterella luteophila ('lutophila' in its original description) led to the establishment of the monotypic genus Gasterella, due to its distinct morphological characteristics (Zeller and Walker 1935, Index Fungorum 2022). It is the only species in the family Gasterellaceae (Zeller 1948).Geographic range
Gasterella luteophila has only been reported from fructifications from soil cultures collected in the United States of America, from Nebraska (Lincoln, Peru and Gretna), Missouri (Columbia) and Michigan (Zeller and Walker 1935, Walker 1940, GBIF.org 2022).Population and Trends
Gasterella luteophila has only been reported from saturated soil cultures from approximately five sites, but the exact number of sites is difficult to determine based on the information available. All findings occurred between 1932 and 1942. Though initial tests indicated that this species was common in loess soil from Nebraska, tests with soil from other regions did not result in fructifications. Given that this species forms very small and inconspicuous basidiocarps and microscopy is needed for its identification, it may be more common than what can be determined with the information now available. (Zeller and Walker 1935, Walker 1940, GBIF.org 2022)
Population Trend: Unknown