Morphology and multigene phylogeny reveals five new species of Hydnaceae (Cantharellales, Basidiomycota) from China.

Wood-inhabiting fungi play a fundamental role in ecosystem processes, particularly in wood degradation and the recycling of organic matter. In this study, a new genus, , and five new species, viz. , , , , and , are described from China and illustrated based on morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Sequences of the ITS+nLSU genes were used for the phylogenetic analyses using Maximum Likelihood, Maximum Parsimony, and Bayesian Inference methods. The phylogram of the family Hydnaceae, based on the ITS+nLSU rDNA gene regions, included four genera; , , and The topology based on these sequences revealed that was closely related to , and was grouped with . The taxon was sister to the clade that included and . The species was grouped closely with and . All new taxa can be readily recognized by their macroscopic and anatomical characteristics. The five new species, closely related taxa in the phylogenetic tree, and morphologically similar species are discussed.