The coral tooth fungus Hericium coralloides (Scop.) Pers. - a new member of the urban mycota of Sofia city park Borisova gradina

Abstract

Nowadays the studies of the urban fungal diversity with highlighting mostly
macrofungal species of conservation concern is a rapidly growing field of interest. The present paper reports the first finding of the wood-inhabiting fungus Hericium coralloides (Scop.) Pers., which has been considered rare and threatened in Europe and is included in the Red List of Bulgarian fungi with Near Threatened category, in the Sofia city park Borisova gradina. The previous findings of the same species in Plovdiv and in the Sofia park Vrana together with the records of another close and threatened species of the same genus, considered as Endangered in Bulgaria, namely H. erinaceus (Bull.) Pers., in another city park of Sofia - Zapaden park, strongly suggests that both tooth fungi tend to be members of the urban mycota in Bulgaria despite their apparent rarity. This serves to prove the need to investigate currently under-utilized opportunity that cities with their distinct species assemblages present for biodiversity conservation, when they are recognized as hotspots for threatened species.

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