Mycoflora of the tropical drylands in the Aravalli range in India

Nine species of mushrooms have been found during the intense forays in the Aravalli's Mountain range particularly in the Northwest Rajasthan, India, representing the leeward side of the Aravalli's range and experiencing dry climatic regimes with less than average annual rainfall. The distinctiveness of mycoflora is that species are well adapted to thrive in dry arid soils. Explorations in this part of the state yielded fruitful results to add to the yet less unexplored mushroom flora of the State. Many humicolous saprophytic species namely Cystoderma carcharias, Lepiota americana, Lepiota cristata, Lichenomphalia umbellifera, Macrolepiota excorciata, M. rhacodes, Pholiota squarrosa, Tricholoma sulphureum var. sulphureum and Tricholoma giganteum are found herein, after the monsoon rains and are new reports to the area. Most of these species have large basidiomes with hyaline spores. In the present study, "Adaptability defines the diversity of mushrooms found in the arid and semiarid areas and life cycle patterns assure their role as decomposers of the ecosystem".. KEYWORDS :Aravalli range, Cystoderma humicolous, Lepiota, Macrolepiota, mycoflora, Tricholoma