RRJoLS (2018) 1-10 © STM Journals 2018. All Rights Reserved Page 1 Research & Reviews: A Journal of Life Sciences ISSN: 2249-8656 (Online), ISSN: 2348-9545 (Print) Volume 8, Issue 1 www.stmjournals.com New Distribution Record of Five Species of Xylaria from Tripura, Northeast India Sanjit Debnath 1, *, Koushik Majumdar 2 , Panna Das 3 , Ajay Krishna Saha 1 1 Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, Tripura, India 2 Centre for BCRU, Department of Botany, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, Tripura, India 3 Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Botany, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, Tripura, India Abstract The present study deals with new distribution record of five Xylaria species from Tripura, North-east India. Out of total five species, X. obovata, X. nigripes, X. multiplex and X. hypoxylon were not reported from entire Northeast India. Present findings revealed a potential check list of Xylaria of the region. It was observed that Xylaria species prefer to grow on dead decaying wooden logs situated on the moist deciduous forest floor. In addition, the present study also examines the toxicity test for all Xylaria species, and found that all five reported species contain toxic components and recommended as non-edible wild mushroom. Keywords: Xylaria species, wild poisonous mushroom, identification key, habitat, toxicity test *Author for Correspondence E-mail: sanjitdebnath2888@gmail.com INTRODUCTION Xylariaceae is generally recognized as one of the most diverse and largest family of Ascomycota and widely distributed throughout the world as evidenced by reports from different regions with broad ecological diversity [1]. Due to the polymorphism, the taxonomy of Xylaria species is difficult and names of approximately 550 species available [2]. Index Fungorum has documented 793 epithets of Xylaria in the year of 2017 [3]. The Phyla Ascomycotina contains approximately 2000 species in all over the world; among them, 745 species are found in India [4]. The Xylariaceae is a large and relatively well- known ascomycete family found in most countries [5]. Xylaria grow on a variety of substrates, especially on decaying wood, dead wood and nests of termites or ants, therefore they are mostly saprobic in nature or rarely parasitic in nature [6, 7]. Kshirasagar et al. and Karun and Sridhar reported nine and ten species of Xylaria from the Western Ghats and Mulashi Forest (Maharashtra), respectively [8, 9]. Koyani et al. also reported 19 species of Xylaria from all the 33 districts of Gujarat [10]. In this study, a total of six species were found from the small hilly state of Tripura. Xylariaceae contains 35 genera and is characterized by perithecial ascocarps bearing paraphyses and periphyses that are embedded in a stroma [11, 12]. Mushroom poisoning is very common in rural people who consume mushrooms in daily nutrition [13]. The specific goal of this study was to report the occurrence of different species of Xylaria from the small hilly state of Tripura, Northeast India, based on morphological as well as anatomical features along with their edibility status. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study Area Tripura is one of the seven states in the north eastern part of India with a geographical area of 10491 km 2 , of which, 6292 km 2 (59.98%) is covered with forest as per legal classification in the state and it geographically lies between 22°57ʹ to 24°33ʹN and 91°10ʹ to 92°20ʹE [14]. Samples were collected from forest bed of Jampui Hills, Tripura during 2014 to 2017. Jampui Hills is a hilly area of North District of Tripura and it is covered by Mizoram border in the eastern side. Mushroom Collection and Identification Different species exhibit different fruiting phonology, which vary at different altitudes and regions. Mushrooms were collected from different habitats with the help of forceps or