Notes on the genus Suillus (Boletaceae)

TitleNotes on the genus Suillus (Boletaceae)
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1968
AuthorsSmith AH, Thiers HD
JournalMichigan Botanist
Volume7
Pagination14-18
KeywordsTAXONOMY
Abstract

Since first publishing on Suillus we have continued to gather data toward an eventual monograph of the group for North America. As we are well aware, there is still much work to be done before we can claim to have a reasonable understanding of the taxa in this group for this continent. With vast areas of "Suillus country" still very inadequately sampled we do not as yet have sufficient knowledge of the extent of gene exchange or the mechanism by which it occurs. All that can be said at present is that obviously gene exchange is going on at a rapid rate. One is tempted to assume it occurs through hybridizaatoin but this has not been established experimentally. That previously undescribed taxa can still be found in a state such as Michigan, in which so much collecting has been done, only re-emphasizes the need for more intensive as well as extensive field work. During the past season three species were collected which deserve special mention. One was a heavy fruiting of a generally rare species, S. albidipes; the second, the discovery in Michigan of the fungus we believe Frost discovered in New England and which was published in Peck (1889) as Boletus unicolor; and the third appears to be a European species which has long but improperly been regarded as a synonym of Suillus granulatus.