• Proposed
  • Under Assessment
  • DDPreliminary Assessed
  • 4Assessed
  • 5Published

Cantharellus yunnanensis W.F. Chiu

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Scientific name
Cantharellus yunnanensis
Author
W.F. Chiu
Common names
 
IUCN Specialist Group
Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Basidiomycota
Class
Agaricomycetes
Order
Cantharellales
Family
Cantharellaceae
Assessment status
Preliminary Assessed
Preliminary Category
DD
Proposed by
Adam Liddle
Assessors
James Westrip, Adam Liddle

Assessment Notes

Justification

Originally described from Yunnan, China, there has been some taxonomic confusion regarding this species and as such it is extremely difficult to get an accurate idea of the distribution, population size and trend. Therefore, Craterellus yunnanensis is assessed as Data Deficient.


Taxonomic notes

There is a large amount of taxonomic confusion regarding this species. Work by Shao et al. (2021) and Cao et al. (2021) led to the merging of Cantharellus tuberculosporus and C. anzutake as part of this species. Wang et al. (2023), however, have shown these to be based on errors, and the etypification conducted by Shao et al. (2021) does not appear to align with the original type material. Upon re-examination of the type material, and review of additional species, Wang et al. (2023) actually found Cantharellus himalayensis, C. natarjanii and C. anzutake are synonyms of C. applanatus, C. tuberculosporus is a good species, and C. yunnanensis actually warrants placing in Craterellus.


Why suggested for a Global Red List Assessment?

Chanterelle species


Geographic range

This species was first recorded from Yunnan Province, China (Chiu 1973).

Collections noted by Shao et al. (2021) supposedly found the species to be widespread in this province along with Guizhou, while taxonomic work purportedly showed that Cantharellus tuberculosporus, described from Tibet [or Xizang], and C. anzutake, described from Japan, but also known from China and the Korean peninsula (see GBIF 2024), are synonyms of C. yunnanensis (Cao et al. 2021, Shao et al. 2021).

However, Wang et al. (2023) have since shown that the etypification of Shao et al. (2021) was incorrect and was based on a specimen that was very different from the type, and indeed they moved C. yunnanensis from Cantharellus to Craterellus. Therefore, ascertaining the true distribution of the species is very difficult, and only the original collection can be confidently called Craterellus yunnanensis.


Population and Trends

Given the high level of uncertainty it is not possible to estimate the population size and trend.

Population Trend: Uncertain


Habitat and Ecology

This is an ectomycorrhizal forest species (Shao et al. 2021).

Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland Forest

Threats

Further information is required before an assessment of the species’ threats can be made.


Conservation Actions


Research needed

Further surveying should be conducted to try to get a clearer indication of the full range of the species, and this will aid in gaining a better idea of its population size and trend, as well as identifying any potential major threats. Further work on the taxonomy may be required.

TaxonomyPopulation size, distribution & trendsThreats

Use and Trade

This has been reported to be an edible species of mushroom, sold in markets (Shao et al. 2021, Zhang et al. 2022), and also to potentially have some medicinal benefits (Pan et al. 2023). However, it is not known if all of these records actually refer to true Craterellus yunnanensis as opposed to the concept as defined by Shao et al. (2021), latterly shown to not be true C. yunnanensis. Therefore, effectively this species’ use/trade is unknown.


Bibliography


Country occurrence

Regional Population and Trends

Country Trend Redlisted