(2.1) Scleroderma boluoshanense Kun L. Yang, Jia Y. Lin, Zhen-Chao Liu & Zhu L. Yang, sp. nov.

(Fig. 10)

Registration identifier:— FN572386

Etymology:— Referring to the type locality.

Diagnosis:— Differing from other species in sect. Sclerangium known in Asia by the thin peridium with flaky to granular squamules.

Type:— China, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, Huangpu District, Jiangdong Village, Boluoshan Hill, 23°11'32"N, 113°32'25"E, elevation 150 m, August 16, 2023, Zhen-Chao Liu, Jia Y. Lin & Kun L. Yang, S23427 (HKAS145948, holotype (deposited in the Herbarium of Cryptogams in Kunming Institute of Botany of Chinese Academy of Sciences; ITS: PV059134; nrLSU: PV054255); HTBM1538, isotype).

Description:— Basidiomata small, 15–23 mm in diameter, 12–19 mm in height, subglobose to tuberiform, sessile; odor fungal; taste unknown. Peridium leathery, 0.5–1 mm thick, merino white (#F9F5EC), pale earthy orange (#F8E8C4) to dark thatch yellow (#CDC591), without a color change or turning reddish after damaged, with flaky to granular, concolorous to light teak brown (#BCAC84) to flint brown (#736960) squamules. Gleba compact at first, becoming pulverulent, barleycorn brown (#9D8F59) to coffee-bean brown (#483625). Basal rhizomorphs moderately abundant to abundant, whitish.

Basidiospores {40/3/2} (6.5) 7.5–10.5 (11) [8.41 ± 1.09, 8.00] µm in diameter including ornamentation, mostly globose, rarely subglobose, thick-walled, with subreticulate ornamentation 0.5–1 µm high, brownish to purplish, often surrounded by remnants of placental cells. Basidia collapsed. Gleba trama composed of 2–5.5 μm wide, thin-walled to slightly thick-walled, nearly colorless to slightly brownish, compact, moderately branching, subregularly arranged to interwoven hyphae rarely with clamp connections. Peridial squamules composed of 2–6.5 μm wide, slightly thick-walled, brownish, moderately compact, moderately to frequently branching, subregularly arranged to interwoven hyphae with clamp connections. Peridial trama composed of 3–8.5 μm wide, thin-walled to slightly thick-walled, nearly colorless to slightly brownish, compact, moderately to frequently branching, subregularly arranged to interwoven hyphae with clamp connections.

Habits and distribution:— Gregarious, on soil, in tropical to subtropical forests, associated with plants of Dipterocarpaceae and Fagaceae. Currently known from Asia (China & Thailand) with molecular evidence.

Other collections examined:— China, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, Huangpu District, Jiangdong Village, Boluoshan Hill, 23°11'32"N, 113°32'25"E, elevation 150 m, June 27, 2023, Zhen-Chao Liu, Jia Y. Lin & Kun L. Yang, S23226 (HTBM0469) & S23227 (HTBM0470); same location, September 6, 2023, Zhen-Chao Liu, Jia Y. Lin & Kun L. Yang, S23600 (HTBM1711).

Notes:— In Zhang (1984), a description given under the name “ S. lycoperdoides ”, for a species known in Yunnan Province recorded as edible in that book, is likely consistent with our description for S. boluoshanense. It even looks reasonable as S. boluoshanense is currently recognized in the sect. Sclerangium and is also found in regions of Southeast Asia close to Yunnan, and the true S. lycoperdoides is currently synonymized with S. areolatum (e.g. Guzmán et al. 2013), a poisonous species in the sect. Scleroderma. However, NO DEFINITIVE EVIDENCE can confirm its edibility due to the lack of sequenced collection in ethnomycological records.

Scleroderma boluoshanense is a distinct member of the sect. Sclerangium that shows a thin peridium.