Cantharellus avellaneus is a Malagasy-endemic chanterelle. It was only known from the type specimen, before a recent rediscovery of the species. The two collecting sites are very far apart, and it is theoretically possible that this species is widespread, just rarely fruiting. With the current high levels of uncertainty, this species could theoretically fall into any category. Therefore, it is assessed as Data Deficient.

Chanterelle project

Cantharellus avellaneus is endemic to Madagascar. It was apparently known only from the type specimen, collected on the north-west coast of the country at Maromandia, until a second specimen was recently discovered on sandy soil in eastern Madagascar to the west of Mahanoro (see Buyck et al. 2016).

This species is apparently rare (see Buyck et al. 2016), especially given the long time between collections. However, the large distance between collecting sites suggests the species could be widespread, and without further information regarding the species’ full range, it is not possible to estimate the population size.

This species has been collected from sandy soil, in littoral forest (see Buyck et al. 2016). The recent collection came from an area where the dominant tree species were Uapaca littoralis, U. thouarsii and Leptolaena multiflora (Buyck et al. 2016).

Land conversion for agriculture and logging are major threats to forest habitats in Madagascar. The extent to which these practices are impacting the species, though, are highly uncertain.

Now that this species has been rediscovered and it has been sequenced, further survey work should be conducted to see how widespread the species is in Madagascar.