Cantharellus luteostipitatus was described from specimens collected south of Brickaville on the east coast of Madagascar. There is another potential specimen from the Central Highlands, but this was found in an area of different ecology and so further research is required into this specimen’s status. If the species is restricted to the type locality then it could qualify as Critically Endangered, but there is a large extent of suitable habitat for the species even if the specimen from the Central Highlands is not shown to represent this species. Given the high levels of uncertainty, C. luteostipitatus is assessed as Data Deficient.

Chanterelle project

This species was described from specimens collected at a private property south of Brickaville on the east coast of Madagascar (Liu et al. 2015). A specimen that could represent this species has also been collected in the Central Highlands of the country at Ibity, but given the habitat differences, and the fact that it was collected under a different species means that further work is needed to confirm the status of this specimen (Liu et al. 2015). It might be a bit more common than thought as it is morphologically very similar to the much more common Cantharellus platyphyllus subsp. bojerensis (I. Olariaga Ibarguren pers. comm. 2022).

At the type locality, the species was noted as growing in small groups of three to six ‘individuals’ (Liu et al. 2015) - presumably three to six fruiting bodies. If the species were to be restricted to the type locality then it could have a very small population size. However, there is a large extent of suitable habitat, even if the specimen at Ibity is shown to not represent this species. Therefore, the population size is in essence unknown.

The specimens at the type locality were collected under Uapaca littoralis in sandy soil in littoral forest (Liu et al. 2015). The potential specimen from Ibity was collected at high altitude (>1,500 m asl) under Uapaca bojeri, but further work is needed to confirm its status (Liu et al. 2015).

As the known site is on a private property there is a chance that it may not be imminently threatened. However, if the species does occur elsewhere within the range of Uapaca species in Madagascar then the species could be impacted by general threats to forests such as land conversion for agriculture and logging.

If the species is confirmed to be restricted to the type locality, then engagement with the owner of this private property will be required to ensure the preservation of the site.

Further research is required on the species regarding its full distribution and host-specificity. Follow up work to get a clearer idea of the status of the possible specimen from Ibity in the Central Highlands is also needed.