A contribution to the knowledge of the genus Spodocybe (Hygrophoraceae, Agaricales) in China

The genus Spodocybe belongs to the family Hygrophoraceae. To date, there are eleven taxa in this genus from Asia and Europe. Among them, six taxa are from China, including two new taxa, Spodocybe alpina and S. microspora, and four previously described taxa, S. bispora, S. rugosiceps, S. tomentosa, and S. umbilicata. The two new taxa, from southwestern China are proposed based on morphological and molecular evidence. Spodocybe alpina is currently the only known one in this genus occurring at high elevation (3100−4100 m) in Yunnan province. Spodocybe microspora is a rare wild edible mushroom known locally as “Yueliangjun” which is usually fried with chili or cooked in soups by local people. The systematic positions of two new species are strongly supported by the concatenated dataset ITS-LSU. In addition, new images with supplementary descriptions of the two known species, S. bispora and S. rugosiceps, as well as a key to species of Spodocybe in China are also provided in this study.