Assessment Notes

Justification

While there is some confusion as to the identification of Cantharellus rufopunctatus in the field, it is still thought to be a widespread species in rain forest of Central Africa. As such it is not suspected to warrant listing as threatened under any criterion, and so is assessed as Least Concern.

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Geographic range

This is a species of equatorial rainforest in Central Africa (Buyck et al. 2013), although there is quite often confusion over identification of the species, and it has been misattributed as occurring in woodland (see Buyck et al. 2013, De Kesel et al. 2016). It is also known from Sao Tome and Principe (S. Goncalves in litt. 2021) (not mapped).

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Population and Trends

There is no quantitative information regarding population size and trends.

Population Trend: Unknown

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Habitat and Ecology

This species grows in dense equatorial rain forest of Central Africa, containing Gilbertiodendron dewevrei and Brachystegia laurentii (De Kesel et al. 2016).

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Threats

This species is suspected to have a large range. It is likely to face some localised threats, but the degree to which these are impacting the species as a whole are uncertain.

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Conservation Actions

Work has been conducted to try to resolve the taxonomy of this little-understood species (e.g. see De Kesel et al. 2016). Careful attention needs to be paid to specimens given the past confusion with this species.

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Use and Trade

This is an edible species (e.g. van Dijk et al. 2003, Ndong et al. 2014, Kamalebo and De Kesel 2020).

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Source and Citation

Westrip, J.R.S. 2025. Cantharellus rufopunctatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T269708463A269708465. Accessed on 28 November 2025.

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• Country occurrence