Laeticutis cristata is a polypore with a wide area of distribution in North America, Europe and Asia. It is known from more than 507 sites and population size is projected to be above 1000000 mature individuals. This species has been included in some national Red Lists in Europe, due to small local populations and/or regional decline. Nevertheless, it does not meet the criteria for inclusion in threatened categories at a global scale due to its wide distribution, population size and large host breadth. There is also no evidence of large-scale population decline so the species is assessed as Least Concern (LC).

L. cristata is the type species of its 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.
Other synonyms listed in Species Fungorum (2023): Boletus cristatus, Polyporus cristatus, Grifola cristata, Merisma cristatus, Polypilus cristatus, Cladomeris cristata, Caloporus cristatus, Polyporus agilis, Polyporus virellus, Polyporus poripes, Grifola poripes, Polypilus poripes, Polyporus flavovirens, Grifola flavovirens, Caloporus cristatus f. simplex, Grifola cristatiformis and Polyporus cristatiformis.

Mostly found in temperate areas in Europe and eastern North America but has also been recorded in Central and Southern America and Asia.

L. 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) (GBIF and MyCoPortal databases, Sims et al.,1997, Prylutskyi et al., 2017, Ghobad-Nejhad et al., 2009). Given its distribution and large area of potential habitat, the number of sites is expected to be larger and total population size is projected above 1000000 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 Sweeden 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.

L. 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, namely 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 shrublands 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).

In Norway and Sweeden, 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 (Brandrud et al., 2021 and SLU Artdatabanken, 2020).
At a global level no significant threats have been identified, and hosts such as Castanea sativa, Fagus sylvatica and Quercus robur have been assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List of threatened species.

L. cristata is included in national Red Lists in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Poland, Romania, Switzerland and France (Regional Red Lists). This species was also the target of a nature protection program in Sweden between 2008 and 2012 by the The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, and population decline in Norway is expected to be decreasing due to area protection. (Brandrud et al., 2021, SLU Artdatabanken, 2020)

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.

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

TĂNASE C., POP Adriana, 2005, Red List of Romanian Macrofungi Species,
Bioplatform – Romanian National Platform for Biodiversity, Editura Academiei
Române (ISBN 973-27-1211-2), Bucureşti: 101-107
Tănase, C.Ă.T.Ă.L.I.N. and Pop, A.D.R.I.A.N.A., 2005. Red list of Romanian macrofungi species. Bioplatform–Romanian National Platform for Biodiversity. Edit. Academiei Române, Bucureşti, pp.101-107.

Senn-Irlet, B.I., Bieri, G. and Egli, S., 2007. Liste rouge champignons supérieurs: Liste rouge des espèces menacées en Suisse. OFEV.