Assessment Notes

Justification

Laeticutis cristata is a polypore with a wide area of distribution in North America, Europe and Asia. It is known from more than 500 sites and the population size is estimated to be above a million mature individuals. This species has been included in some national Red Lists in Europe, due to small local populations and/or regional declines. Nevertheless, it does not meet the criteria for inclusion in a threatened category at a global scale due to its wide distribution, population size and potentially large host breadth. There is also no evidence of large-scale population declines so the species is assessed as Least Concern (LC).

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Taxonomic notes

This is the type species of the monotypic genus Laeticutis, established based on morphologic and phylogenetic data (Audet 2010). It is often referred to as its synonyms Albatrellus cristatus and Scutiger cristatus.

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Geographic range

This species is mostly found in temperate areas in Europe and eastern North America but has also been recorded in Central and South America and Asia (not all countries have point data available).

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Population and Trends

Laeticutis cristata has been recorded in at least 507 sites in total (167 sites in North and Central America, 315 sites in Europe and 25 sites in Asia) (Sims et al. 1997, Ghobad-Nejhad et al. 2009, Prylutskyi et al. 2017, GBIF.org 2023, MyCoPortal 2023). Given its distribution and large area of potential habitat, the number of sites is expected to be larger and the total population size is estimated to be above a million mature individuals, following Dahlberg and Mueller (2011) guidelines. L. cristata is listed in threatened categories in National Red Lists in Europe, though in some cases this is due to the small populations that exist in these countries, namely Norway and Sweden which represent the northernmost part of the this species' range. Though there may be some decline in habitat at a regional level, it is not expected to be significant at a global scale given the large number of potential hosts.

Population Trend: Unknown

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Habitat and Ecology

Laeticutis cristata grows on soil, solitary to confluent, in coniferous and hardwood forests (Núñez and Ryvarden 2001). It is an ectomycorrhizal species, and has been shown to associate with Castanea sativa (Audet 2010) and is commonly found with oak, beech and spruce, particularly Quercus robur and Fagus sylvatica.

Though not explicitly stated in the literature, the southernmost locations in its distribution suggest that this species also grows in tropical habitats, namely subtropical-tropical moist montane forests or high altitude shrubland and subtropical-tropical dry forest (based on record locations in Mexico, Costa Rica, Philippines and Brasil and map of terrestrial habitats by Jung et al. 2020).

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Threats

In Norway and Sweden, the felling of oak and beech forests (most common type of habitat in this region) and their replacement with spruce were identified as a threat, along with fertilisation and soil nutrient deposition (SLU Artdatabanken 2020, Brandrud et al. 2021). At a global level no significant threats have been identified.

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Conservation Actions

Laeticutis cristata is included in national Red Lists in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Poland, Romania, Switzerland and France (Dämmrich et al. 2016, MNHN and OFB 2003-2023, SLU Artdatabanken 2020, Brandrud et al. 2021). This species was also the target of a nature protection programme in Sweden between 2008 and 2012 by the The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, and the population decline in Norway is expected to be decreasing due to area protection (SLU Artdatabanken 2020, Brandrud et al. 2021). Since only Castanea sativa has been verified as an ectomycorrhizal partner for L. cristata, confirmation of other likely hosts and habitats could help establish threats.

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Use and Trade

Cristatic acid, a compound with cytotoxic activity, and Cristatomentin, a green pigment, can be isolated from Laeticutis cristata fruitbodies (Koch et al. 2010).

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Source and Citation

Cunha, S.P. & Gonçalves, S.C. 2025. Laeticutis cristata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T228797021A266017723. Accessed on 22 November 2025.

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• Country occurrence