Described by Alexander Smith in A Preliminary Account of the North American Species of Rhizopogon, as a new species. Rhizopogon baxterii has small, pea-like fruiting bodies and are covered with a yellowish tomentose mycelium.

ADJUST THE STATUS DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES AS IT IS ASSESED AS LEAST CONCERN. A rare species originally collected in Michigan in 1927 and was discovered by Patricia Lewis on a foray in the Harrison Experimental Forest in Southern Mississippi.  Rhizopogon baxterii has a broad distribution along the US Gulf Coast base on recent (2008-2013) collections in Louisiana and Texas.

Least concern because of finding recent collections.

Found in Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

The Holotype is from the Packard St. Nursery of the School of Forestry and Conservation at the Univ. of Michigan at Ann Arbor.  The Mississippi collection was found in the Harrison Experimental Forest located within the DeSoto National Forest in 1997.  A collection was made during a mushroom walk in the Lance Rosier unit of the Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas in 2008 and another in Jasper County TX in 2013. A Louisiana collection was made in the Catahoula District of the Kisatchie National Forest, located in central Louisiana, during a Gulf States Mycological Society winter foray in 2012.

In Michigan with Scot’s Pine; In Mississippi in a mesic forest of Pinus, Quercus, Magnolia and Fagus;  In Texas in a mixed pine and hardwood forest; In Louisiana in a baygall community with sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) with pine and oaks nearby

Severe drought and hurricane damage may have affected the species.  Also the influx of invasive species such as Chinese Tallow-tree (Sapium sebiferum) and Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense) has influenced the overall ecology of the region.  Another problem is the destructive of plants and soil by feral hogs.  In Michigan, we are unsure of its status since it has not been reported there since 1927.

The Mississippi site is within DeSoto National Forest.  The first Texas site is located on private property and owners plan to protect the forest.  The other Texas collection is within Big Thicket National Preserve, a federal preserve under the National Park Service.  The Louisiana site is in Kisatchie National Forest, a multi-use site.

Continuing collecting to map out the distribution and ecological requirements.

Baxter, Dow V. 1929. Mycorrhiza on Scotch pine in the University of Michigan Forest Nursery.
Pap. Mich. Acad. 9:509-516.

Smith, A.H. & S.M. Zeller.  1966.  A Preliminary Account of the North American Species of Rhizopogon. 
Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 14 (2):1-178.

Lewis, D. P. and W. G.  Cibula.  2000.  Studies on Gulf Coast Agarics (Basidiomycota: Agaricaceae); Notes on Some Interesting and Rare Species. 
Texas J. Science 52(4)  Supplement:65-78.