Lepiota maojingbaensis M. L. Han, L. A. Wang & Q. An 2026, sp. nov.

Lepiota maojingbaensis M. L. Han, L. A. Wang & Q. An sp. nov. Figs 2 b – d, 4 Etymology. The specific epithet maojingbaensis (Latin) refers to the location of the species in Maojingba National Forest Park. Holotype. China • Hebei Province, Chengde, Longhua County, Maojingba National Forest Park, 41°40'39.69"N, 118°10'38.88"E, 1,450 m asl., 28 July 2019, on ground, leg. M. L. Han, Han 682 (LFNC 0000682). Diagnosis. Similar to L. jilinensis T. Bau & X. Y. Zhou, but differs in a cream to pale clay-buff pileus with white context and cream lamellae, smaller cheilocystidia (13–19 × 6.0–7.5 µm), and terminal cells of the pileus covering (32–65.8 × 8.2–11.5 μm). Description. Basidiomata small. Pileus 20–27 mm in diameter, conical; surface dull and dry, cream (4 A 2 / 3) to pale clay-buff (6 D 4), cracked at maturity; context white (1 A 1); margin smooth, becoming undulate with age, slightly split radially. Lamellae 3–5 mm wide, free, cream (4 A 2 / 3), crowded with 1–3 series of lamellulae. Stipe 30–45 × 4–6 mm, central, cylindrical to subcylindrical, equal or sometimes slightly broadened at base, hollow; surface clay-pink (6 B / C 4) and glabrous at the apical part, and clay-buff (6 D 4) covered with white (1 A 1) to cream (4 A 2 / 3) tomentum in lower half. Volva and annulus not observed. Odor farinaceous to rancid farinaceous. Basidiospores [100 / 3 / 2] (5.5 –) 6.0–8.1 (– 9.2) × (2.8 –) 2.9–3.8 (– 4.1) µm, X mm = 7.16 ± 0.69 × 3.18 ± 0.27, Q = 1.66–2.97, Qm = 2.26 ± 0.25, long-ellipsoid to sub-fusiform in front view, sub-triangular in side view, with truncate to spurred base, thin-walled, smooth, hyaline, sometimes with granular contents, dextrinoid, congophilous, cyanophilic, not metachromatic, without suprahilar depression. Basidia 14.0–20.0 × 4.5–7.5 µm, clavate, with guttulate contents, hyaline, thin-walled, 4 - spored; sterigmata up to 2.5 µm long. Lamellar trama subregular; parallel to subparallel, rarely branched, hyphae, 3.8–4.5 µm wide, hyaline, thick-walled. Cheilocystidia 13–19 × 6.0–7.5 µm, narrowly clavate to clavate, hyaline, thin-walled. Pleurocystidia absent. Pileus trama interwoven, composed of slightly inflated, septate, 3.1–5.1 µm wide, slightly thick-walled to thick-walled, hyaline hyphae. Pileus covering a trichoderm composed of hyphae 3.0–5.9 μm, thick-walled, terminal elements elongate, narrowly clavate to subcylindrical, 32–65.8 × 8.2–11.5 μm, normally with rounded apex, rarely with tapered apex, occasionally curved, with or without clamps, thin-walled, containing grayish yellow intracellular pigments. Stipe covering a cutis composed of hyphae 3.1–4.9 μm, thick-walled, terminal elements narrowly clavate, with rounded apex or tapering towards apex, 45–192 × 4.5–8 μm, containing pale yellowish intracellular pigments. Clamp connections present in all parts of basidiomata. Habitat and distribution. Solitary on the ground in mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests dominated by Larix principis-rupprechtii, Betula platyphylla, Quercus spp., and Populus davidiana, Hebei Province, China. Additional specimens examined (paratype). China • Hebei Province, Chengde City, Longhua County, Maojingba National Forest Park, 41°40'39.15"N, 118°10'39.42"E, 1,450 m asl., 28 July 2019, on ground, leg. Q. An, An 1 (HZC 0000001). Notes. Phylogenetically, Lepiota maojingbaensis is nested within sect. Stenosporae, forming a strongly supported lineage (BS = 100 %, BPP = 1.00, Fig. 1). It is resolved as a sister group to a subclade comprising L. boudieri Bres., L. aureofulvella Sysouph., K. D. Hyde, Chukeat. & Vellinga, L. rhodophylla Vellinga, and L. andegavensis Mornand (Fig. 1). Lepiota boudieri, L. aureofulvella, and L. rhodophylla have a cutis-like pileus covering (Vellinga 2006; Sysouphanthong et al. 2011; Liang 2016), and L. andegavensis features longer basidiospores (7.6–10.5 µm; Migliozzi and Donato 2023); these features readily distinguish them from L. maojingbaensis. Lepiota flavonigrescens Sarawi & Reschke, L. hongshiensis T. Bau & X. Y. Zhou, L. jilinensis, L. sirupa T. Bau & X. Y. Zhou, and L. tyrianthina Sarawi are several recently described species belonging to sect. Stenosporae (Suppl. material 2). These species have basidiospores similar in size and shape to those of L. maojingbaensis. Nevertheless, they can be distinguished as follows: L. flavonigrescens possesses an orange-brown to dark brown pileus with grayish-yellow lamellae (Sarawi et al. 2025 b); L. hongshiensis has a white pileus with grayish-yellow to olive-brown squamules and poorly differentiated cheilocystidia (Zhou and Bau 2026); L. jilinensis features a white pileus adorned with light orange to brownish-orange squamules, as well as larger cheilocystidia (19–35 × 9–18 µm) and terminal cells of the pileus covering (70–306 × 9–19 µm; Zhou and Bau 2026); and L. sirupa and L. tyrianthina exhibit a distinctly darker-colored pileus surface (Sarawi et al. 2025 b; Zhou and Bau 2026).