MACROFUNGI FLORA OF ARASBARAN 1. CORTINARIUS SUBGENUS MYXACIUM

Abstract

Due to the importance of the Arasbaran forest (E. Azarbaijan, N.W. Iran) as a biosphere preserve and having a rich flora and fauna, macrofungi flora of Arasbaran region, were studied from 2003. This is the first in a series of publications on floristic studies of macrofungi of Arasbaran forests. In this paper, species of the genus <em>Cortinarius</em>, subgenus <em>Myxacium</em> are studied.The genus <em>Cortinarius </em>Fr. is largest genus of gilled basidiomycete fungi. There are about 2000 species epithets for this genus in the world. The following characters delimit <em>Cortinarius </em>taxa: (i) a rusty brown to ochraceous spore print, (ii) spores lacking a germ pore and (iii) a cortinate veil. <em>Cortinarius </em>spp. form ectomycorrhizal associations with plants and also some species have been considered as poisonous mushrooms.