Assessment Notes

Justification

There are records of Craterellus hesleri from three states in eastern USA. It potentially could be a species of the Appalachian Mountains, but a collections identified as this species from Highbanks Metro Park, Ohio and eastern Texas would appear to refute this. Specific trends are unknown, but the population size is suspected to be large given the potentially very wide range of the species. Identifying the specific host species would be useful to see if C. hesleri could be in decline, but in the absence of this information C. hesleri is not thought to approach the thresholds for listing as threatened and so is assessed as Least Concern.

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Geographic range

The type specimen for this species was collected in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) in Tennessee, USA (Petersen 1975). Matheny et al. (2010) highlight an additional collection, that has been confirmed as this species based on sequencing, from North Carolina at Tuxedo, and a further North Carolina record has come from the GSMNP (GBIF.org 2020). It potentially could have a distribution through the Appalachian Mountains, but specimens collected from Highbanks Metro Park, Ohio (Grootmyers 2021) and east Texas (MyCoPortal 2024; not mapped here), suggest that it might not be restricted to this mountain range.

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Population and Trends

There is currently no specific information available regarding the population size and trend, but with the potential to have a very wide range, the population size may be tentatively suspected to be large.

Population Trend: Unknown

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Habitat and Ecology

The type specimen was found in a 'small troop' in woodland containing Quercus and Tsuga on deciduous humus (Petersen 1975).

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Threats

Further information regarding the full range of the species is required before an accurate assessment of the threats this species faces can be made. However, with the potential to have a fairly wide range, then any specific threats it may be facing may not have a significant impact on the population as a whole.

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Conservation Actions

The type specimen was collected from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Surveys to identify further sites for the species, as well as ascertaining any specific hosts for the species would be beneficial for future reassessments as well as any potential future conservation work on this species.

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Source and Citation

Westrip, J.R.S. 2025. Craterellus hesleri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T269708040A269708042. Accessed on 20 November 2025.

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• Country occurrence