Mythicomyces corneipes

(Fr.) Redhead & A.H. Sm.

a fungus

G3Vulnerable (G3G4) Found in 9 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G3VulnerableGlobal Rank
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.57.10164
Element CodeNFSM000108
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryFungus
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomFungi
PhylumBasidiomycota
ClassBasidiomycetes
OrderAgaricales
FamilyStrophariaceae
GenusMythicomyces
Synonyms
Agaricus corneipesFr.
Concept Reference
Castellano, M.A., E. Cazares, B. Fondrick, and T. Dreisbach. 2003. Handbook to additional fungal species of Special Concern in the Northwest Forest Plan. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-572. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 144 pp. Online. Available: https://www.fs.usda.gov/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr572.pdf
Conservation Status
Rank MethodLegacy Rank calculation - Biotics v1
Review Date2019-03-21
Change Date2006-06-28
Edition Date2019-03-21
Edition AuthorsLorelei L Norvell (2002), rev. Treher (2019)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences21 - 300
Rank Reasons
Mythicomyces corneipes is a saprophytic fungus dependent upon very moist organic matter in complex habitats: margins of northern bogs, on stream banks, or wet sweeps under conifers and alders in old growth forests.The species has a wide and scattered distribution in North America and Europe, where it is universally regarded as vulnerable. In North America, there around 60 occurrences. The number of occurrences in Europe is unknown. All populations are at risk from incidental catastrophic events such as wildfire and anything that destroys the substrate or dries out the sites. Old growth forest are in decline due to logging and stand replacing fires. Regional Red List Assessments categorize this species as 'Vulnerable' in Norway and Finland and 'Data Deficient' in Sweden. The most important element of this species conservation status is limited ability to disperse and lengthy time for the habitat to regenerate.
Range Extent Comments
Mythicomyces corneipes is a rare but wide ranging boreal mushroom. Redhead & Smith (1986) and Huhtinen & Vauras (1992) verified collections from eastern and western Canada, the western United States, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. It is known from the northern spotted owl region in western North America (Norvell (1998); ISMS Database 2002 and GIS map for MYCO11). In North America, it is documented in Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Colorado, Utah, Michigan, New York, Ontario, and Nova Scotia (N. Siegel, pers. comm., 2017).
Occurrences Comments
The number of occurrences worldwide is not known but it is regarded everywhere as rare. In North America, there are between 60 and 70 known sites. Continued fungal surveys and closer scrutiny of boggy or frequently flooded forested areas for small somewhat inconspicuous mushrooms should uncover more sites.
Threat Impact Comments
Very little is actually known about threats to this species but it is thought to be threatened by stand replacing fires, logging, and potentially cattle grazing. All populations are at risk to incidental catastrophic events, such as hot fires, and unmonitored human interference. Unprotected occurrences are at risk from logging activities such as brush clearing or stream diversion or clearcutting (Norvell, pers. comm., 2002). Around 45 of 60 sites are not in protected areas, If those sites are logged on a 40 year rotation, around 16% of the sites in North America would be impacted over 10 years and around 75% of the sites would be impacted over 100 years. Cattle potentially graze and trample areas around some seeps/streams.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Mythicomyces corneipes is found along margins of northern bogs or on wet soil under conifers and alders in old growth coniferous forests. Mythicomyces corneipes is solitary to gregarious along margins of northern bogs among mosses or in sites flooded in the spring near conifers and alders (Huhtinen & Vauras 1992). The substrate is plant debris, mainly pieces of wood (Redhead & Smith 1986). A Norwegian site is a small brook ravine in a spruce forest that is regularly inundated and has relatively open vegetation without a continuous moss cover. Recent Swedish and Finnish sites are from moist, moss-rich spruce forests, and in one instance Mythicomyces corneipes was found fruiting on a stump. A Finnish site has a fragmented complex moss layer composed of 5 mosses and 1 liverwort. There Mythicomyces corneipes was found fruiting once on Athyrium rachides but generally the fruitbodies occur on mineral soil mixed with litter or on small hardwood and sorftwood branches partly buried in soil. The pH reaction of the alluvial soil varies between 5.8-5.9 (Huhtinen & Vauras 1992).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - Conifer
Palustrine Habitats
Bog/fenRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaNU
ProvinceRankNative
Nova ScotiaSUYes
New BrunswickSUYes
QuebecSUYes
British ColumbiaS3Yes
United StatesN3
ProvinceRankNative
OregonS1Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
2 - Agriculture & aquacultureUnknownUnknownHigh (continuing)
2.3 - Livestock farming & ranchingUnknownUnknownHigh (continuing)
5 - Biological resource useUnknownUnknownHigh (continuing)
5.3 - Logging & wood harvestingUnknownUnknownHigh (continuing)
7 - Natural system modificationsUnknownUnknownHigh (continuing)
7.1 - Fire & fire suppressionUnknownUnknownHigh (continuing)
7.1.1 - Increase in fire frequency/intensityUnknownUnknownHigh (continuing)

Plant Characteristics
DurationEPHEMERAL FRUITING BODY
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (9)
Colorado (2)
AreaForestAcres
San MiguelSan Juan NF64,263
Storm PeakSan Juan NF57,617
Oregon (5)
AreaForestAcres
Gordon MeadowsWillamette National Forest9,463
Maiden PeakDeschutes National Forest26,432
Maiden PeakWillamette National Forest9,627
Waldo - FujiWillamette National Forest15,273
Waldo - LakeWillamette National Forest2,993
Washington (2)
AreaForestAcres
Heather LakeWenatchee National Forest10,628
Nason RidgeWenatchee National Forest19,329
References (14)
  1. Castellano, M.A., E. Cazares, B. Fondrick, and T. Dreisbach. 2003. Handbook to additional fungal species of Special Concern in the Northwest Forest Plan. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-572. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 144 pp. Online. Available: https://www.fs.usda.gov/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr572.pdf
  2. Castellano, M. A., J. E. Smith, T. O'Dell, E. Cazares and S. Nugent. 1999. Handbook to strategy 1 fungal species in the Northwest Forest Plan. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-GTR-476. Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR. 195 pp. Online. Available: https://www.fs.usda.gov/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr476.pdf
  3. Huhtinen and Vauras. 1992. Mythicomyces corneipes, a rare agaric, in Fennoscandia. Karstenia 32: 7-12.
  4. Index Fungorum and Species Fungorum. 2018. <i>In</i> Index Fungorum-Species Fungorum (<a href="https://indexfungorum.org" target="_blank">https://indexfungorum.org</a> and <a href="https://speciesfungorum.org" target="_blank">https://speciesfungorum.org</a>) database export on 16 June 2018. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  5. Index Fungorum and Species Fungorum. 2025. <i>In</i> Index Fungorum-Species Fungorum (<a href="https://indexfungorum.org" target="_blank">https://indexfungorum.org</a> and <a href="https://speciesfungorum.org" target="_blank">https://speciesfungorum.org</a>) database export on 29 September 2025. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  6. ISMS-ONH. 2002. ISMS data; ONH protection extrapolations; GIS map for MYCO11.
  7. MycoBank. 2025. MycoBank database download, export date January 2025. International Mycological Association. [http://www.mycobank.org]
  8. Norvell 10-23-02 microscopic confirmation of MYCO11 from Oregon Mycological Society Show [voucher retained].
  9. Norvell. 1998c. ROD: Strategy 3 Fungal Species Evaluation (11 gilled Basidiomycete Strategy 3 species). Unpubl. report on file at the Regional Mycology Lab, Corvallis, Oregon.
  10. Norvell, Lorelei. Personal Communication. Mycologist.
  11. Redhead, S. A., and A. H. Smith. 1986. Two new genera of agarics based on <i>Psilocybe corneipes</i> and <i>Phaeocollybia perplexa</i>. Canadian Journal of  Botany 64: 643-647.
  12. Siegel, Noah. Personal Communication. Mycologist.
  13. Species Fungorum. Species Fungorum Partnership (CABI, IT IS, Catalogue of Life). http://www.speciesfungorum.org. (accessed 2015)
  14. Tingstad, L., I. Gjerde, A. Dahlberg, and J.A. Grytnes. 2017. The influence of spatial scales on Red List composition: Forest species in Fennoscandia. Global Ecology and Conservation 11:247-297.