James Sowerby's 1809 illustration of Agaricus subcantharellus (= Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca). Source: "Coloured Figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms", James Sowerby, 1797–1809 [Public Domain]

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, a brown-rot fungus, grows in both hardwood and conifer forests, and is distributed across several continents. It is known to secrete oxalic acid into the soil, influencing nutrient turnover and nutrient uptake by forest trees (Fransson, Valeur, and Wallander 2004).

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca is a member of the Hygrophoropsidaceae family from the order Boletales, and was sequenced as part of the 1000 Fungal Genomes Project. The 1000 Fungal Genomes Project aims fill in gaps in the Fungal Tree of Life by sequencing at least two reference genomes from the more than 500 recognized families of Fungi. This project additionally aims to inform research on plant-microbe interactions, microbial emission and capture of greenhouse gasses, and environmental metagenomic sequencing.