Clavuliella Q. Zhou & C. L. Zhao gen. nov.

Type species.

Clavuliella sinensis Q. Zhou & C. L. Zhao, sp. nov.

Etymology.

Clavuliella (Lat.): refers to the related genus Clavulina.

Description.

Basidiomata annual, coralloid, gregarious to caespitose clusters, greyish white to light grey when fresh, turning to dark grey upon drying; with sharply acuminate or cristate tips. Hyphal system monomitic, generative hyphae simple-septa, colorless, slightly thick-walled, frequently branched, interwoven. Cystidia and cystidioles absent. Basidia cylindrical, with a median constriction, with 2 sterigmata and a basal simple-septum, with oily contents. Basidiospores subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, colorless, thin-walled, smooth, with oil drop, IKI –, CB –.

Notes.

In our phylogenetical analyses (Fig. 1), Clavuliella was identified as a monophyletic group, typified by C. sinensis . The new genus Clavuliella falls within the family Hydnaceae ( Cantharellales) and is closely related to Clavulina . Clavulina is distinguished from Clavuliella by its clavarioid to coralloid, simple or branched basidiomata with amphigenous hymenia, cylindrical to subclavate basidia with two or more cornuted sterigmata (Schröter 1888; Uehling et al. 2012; He et al. 2019; Gao et al. 2024).

Clavuliella resembles Clavulina in sharing coralloid basidiomata, subglobose, thin-walled basidiospores. However, Clavuliella differs from Clavulina by cylindrical basidia, with a median constriction, slightly thick-walled, with 2 sterigmata and a basal simple-septum, with oily contents and simple-septa generative hyphae. In this study, Clavuliella originating from the subtropical regions, suggests the possibility of discovering new corticioid taxa through further investigations and molecular analyses.