Assessment Notes

Justification

There is a paucity of information regarding this species, and taxonomic doubts as to its validity. Therefore, Cantharellus elegans is assessed as Data Deficient.

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Taxonomic notes

Keißler (1917) states that this name should be discarded because the type description is not sufficient for accurate identification. Keißler (1917) further states that the specimen found does not appear to relate to what Sauter collected (different location, and inscription is not in Sauter's handwriting), and the type appears to be missing.

This should not be confused with the nom. illeg. Cantharellus elegans Berk. & Broome.

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Geographic range

Cantharellus elegans was described in Sauter (1841) from a specimen collected in 1837 from near to Mittersill in Austria.

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Population and Trends

The population size and trend are unknown.

Population Trend: Unknown

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Habitat and Ecology

This species was originally collected in October from the moss Dicranum scoparium at an altitude of 4,500 feet (c. 1,370 m) (Sauter 1841). This plant species occurs in a variety of habitat types (see Campisi and Cogoni 2019), but no clear indication is given of the habitat that this fungus was collected from.

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Threats

Further information is required before a clear investigation of the threats it faces can be done.

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Conservation Actions

First of all, taxonomic work is required to identify whether this is a valid species or not. If it is found to be a good species, then work to locate it in the wild should be conducted to get an indication of the habitat requirements, as well as the full range, population size and trend.

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Use and Trade

There is no use/trade information

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Source and Citation

Westrip, J.R.S. 2025. Cantharellus elegans. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T269704494A269704496. Accessed on 20 November 2025.

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• Country occurrence