Pseudohydnum laricicola Zhu L. Yang, Q. Cai & B. Feng

Pseudohydnum laricicola Zhu L. Yang, Q. Cai & B. Feng, Fungal Diversity 133: 309 (2025) Fig. 5 Description. Basidiomata medium to large-sized, gelatinous when fresh, pileate, laterally stipitate, solitary or gregarious. Pileus up to 50 mm in widest diameter and 5 mm thick, spathulate to flabellate or semicircular; pileal surface initially papillate and grayish white, becoming minutely velutinous to strigose and clay-pink to cinnamon, and finally brown at maturity, translucent when fresh; margin sharp to blunt, entire, undulating, fertile. Hymenophore hydnoid; spines sharp-tipped, 0.8–1.5 mm long, 2–3 per mm, white to milk white. Stipe 15–35 mm long, 5–15 mm in diam., lateral, watery-grayish to pale grayish white, equal, cylindrical, translucent; surface minutely velutinous to strigose or partially covered by spines. Context gelatinous, translucent, unchanging. Odor and taste mild. Basidiospores [60 / 3 / 3] (6.5 –) 6.8–8.3 (– 8.8) × (5.7 –) 6.2–7.5 (– 8.3) μm, Q = (1.02 –) 1.05–1.26 (– 1.30), Qm = 1.14 ± 0.06, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, nonamyloid, with a small apiculus, frequently germinating by repetition or by germ tubes. Basidia 11–14 × 10–13 μm, longitudinally cruciate-septate, predominantly 4 - spored, occasionally 2 - spored, arranged in a dense palisade extending to the spine apices; sterigmata up to 23 × 2–4 μm. Hyphidia 1–3 μm in diam., common, branched, with simple septa or clamp connections. Hyphal system monomitic, generative hyphae with clamp connections. Pileipellis composed of subparallel or ascending hyphae, 1–7 μm in diam., thin- or slightly thick-walled, hyaline to brownish. Contextual hyphae 1-4 μm in diam., interwoven, thin- to slightly thick-walled, hyaline. Subhymenial hyphae hyaline, thin-walled, interwoven or anastomosing, 1–7 μm in diam., occasionally inflated up to 15 μm. Ecology and distribution. Growing on decayed coniferous wood (predominantly Larix, Picea, and Pinus). Currently known only from Sichuan and Yunnan, southwestern China. Specimens examined. China • Yunnan Province, Ninglang County (宁蒗县), en route from Gewa Village (格瓦村) to Labo Town (拉伯乡), 27°43'42"N, 100°32'05"E, elev. 3,290 m, on decaying Picea wood, 30 September 2023, leg. T. J. Yu (MHKMU YTJ 164); • ibid., 27°43'25"N, 100°31'56"E, elev. 3,410 m, on decaying Picea wood, 1 October 2023, leg. T. J. Yu (MHKMU YTJ 168); • ibid., 27°43'23"N, 100°31'59"E, elev. 3,460 m, on decaying Picea wood, 2 October 2023, leg. T. J. Yu (MHKMU YTJ 198); • Shangri-la City (香格里拉市), near Yijia Village (彝族村), 27°23'04"N, 100°06'22"E, elev. 3,215 m, on decaying Pinus armandii wood, 30 July 2021, leg. H. Y. Huang (MHKMU HHY 897). Comments. Pseudohydnum laricicola was originally described from Sichuan, southwestern China, based on collections from decayed Larix wood (Wang et al. 2025). Our collections represent the first record from Yunnan, where the species appears relatively common on decayed wood of Picea and Pinus armandii. The basidiomata observed are notably larger than those in the original description (pileus up to 50 mm vs. 20–30 mm in diameter; stipe up to 35 mm vs. 10–20 mm long). Furthermore, pileus color varies distinctly with development — from initially watery-grayish to clay-pink / cinnamon and finally brown at maturity — and our basidiospores are slightly wider (6.8–8.3 × 6.2–7.5 μm vs. 5.5–7.5 × 5.5–6.5 μm) (Wang et al. 2025). These discrepancies likely stem from the original description having been based on immature or incompletely developed specimens; our findings significantly expand the known morphological range of this species.