First Report of Panaeolus sphinctrinus and Panaeolus foenisecii (Psathyrellaceae, Agaricales) on Elephant Dung from Sri Lanka

P. sphinctrinus (Fr) Quel. and P. foenisecii (Pers.) J. Schrot. are described from Sri Lanka for the first time. Both were collected from elephant dung in dry zone forest reserves of Sri Lanka. Identity was confirmed by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region in the nuclear ribosomal repeat unit, using the primers ITS1F and ITS4B. The morphological studies and phylogenetic analysis were carried out to characterize the fungus. Accordingly, P. sphinctrinus consists of a grey brown pileus with whitish margin and citriform, blakish brown basidiospores with a distinct germspore. Whereas P. foenisecii has a characteristic white to smoke grey, hygropanus pileus and various shaped cheliocystidia. Further in the phylogentic analysis, the two species clustered with their respective groups.