Rhizopogon is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of hypogeous Basidiomycetes. Recent micromorphological and molecular phylogenetic study has established that Rhizopogon is a member of the Boletales

Boletales

The Boletales are an order of Agaricomycetes, containing over 1300 species with a diverse array of fruiting body types. The boletes are the best known members of this group, and until recently, the Boletales were thought to only contain boletes...

, closely related to Suillus

Suillus

Suillus is a genus of basidiomycete fungi in the family Suillaceae and order Boletales. Species in the genus are associated with coniferous trees, and are mostly distributed in northern temperate locations, although some species have been introduced to the Southern Hemisphere.-Taxonomy:The genus...

. All species of Rhizopogon are ectomycorrhizal and are thought to play an important role in the ecology of coniferous forests. R. luteolus was deliberately introduced into Pinus radiata plantations in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

to improve tree growth in the early part of the 20th century.

External links

• Index Fungorum
• A preliminary account of the North American species of Rhizopogon by Alexander H. Smith and S. M. Zeller, 1966. (Full text of monograph.)