biodiversity assessment in some selected hill forests of south orissa

Discovery of Dictyophora indusiata from Kutrumali hills and Morchella
esculanta/Morchella crassipes from Baphlimali hills
The mushroom fungus Dictyophora indusiata or
Phallus indusiatus commonly called long net
stinkhorn is a macrofungus that belongs to the order
Phallales in the fungal phylum Basidiomycotina. The
fungus has been reported to grow at a temperature
between 21°C to 25°C, in moist bamboo thickets at
300–600 m amsl and relative humidity of 45–85%
from tropical areas including Mexico, South
America, Malaysia, southern China and Japan.
Recent discovery of this fungus from the Western
Ghats and the Eastern Ghats extends its distribution
to peninsular India. The fungus was found to grow
at an altitude of 420 m amsl in a bamboo thicket
near the foot of Kuturmali hill of Koraput district of Orissa during post rainy season. As per the local
inhabitants, the species has multipurpose
medicinal applications for different ailments and
diseases and is a sign of good luck for those who
saw this species at least once in his lifetime and is
rare to the State of Orissa. The checklist of fungi
of southern Orissa is given in Appendix-1
Morchella esculenta is an important edible
mushroom belonging to the family Helvellaceae
and found in the Himalayan forest between 1800
and 3600 masl and is locally sold to middlemen
and traders at Rs 5000 per kg. It is cooked as food
and used in medicine and health care system by
the traditional societies and also considered
important for clinical use. Six species, namely
Morchella esculenta, M. conica, M. deliciosa, M.
angusticeps, M. arassipes and M. hybrid (M. semilibera) have been reported from India. The discovery of
M.esculanta from Baphlimali extends its distribution to peninsular India.