New Finds of a Rare Species in Russiaa

Four new locations of the rare species are reported from northeast of the European part of Russia (Komi Republic). The species is found in Europe and North America, sporadically in Asia and Africa, and is rare everywhere. Previously in Russia it was recorded from the North Urals and the Western Sayan. Most of the known localities belong to mountainous habitats; however, our finds were made in the flat part of the Komi Republic. The ITS nucleotide sequences for six collected specimens were obtained and deposited in the GenBank database. Phylogenetic analysis showed that our sequences form a distinct, well-supported clade that includes specimens from Europe. The article presents a description of the species, original photographs of basidiomes and their microscopic features, habitats of the species, clarifies its morphological features and provides information on the distribution and ecology of this species. Differences from morphologically similar species are discussed.