Scleroderma solare Kun L. Yang, Jia Y. Lin & Zhu L. Yang, 2025

(2.4) Scleroderma solare Kun L. Yang, Jia Y. Lin & Zhu L. Yang , sp. nov.

( Fig. 13 View FIGURE 13 )

Registration identifier:— FN572389

Etymology:— Referring to the bright color of this fungus like the sun.

Diagnosis:— Differing from S. aureum by the larger basidiospores, from S. endoxanthum and S. zengchengense by the stipitate basidiomata with abundant basal rhizomorphs, from S. xanthochroum by the shorter stipe, from S. flavidum by the smaller basidiospores, and from S. sinnamariense by the smaller basidiospores, Asian distribution and the distinct ITS sequence.

Type:— China, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, Tianhe District, Tianhe Park , 23°07'54"N, 113°21'37"E, elevation 50 m, July 29, 2023, Jia Y. Lin, L23220 ( HKAS145955 , holotype (deposited in the Herbarium of Cryptogams in Kunming Institute of Botany of Chinese Academy of Sciences; ITS: PV059086 ); GoogleMaps HTBM1172 , isotype) GoogleMaps .

Description:— Basidiomata small to medium-sized, 22–55 mm in diameter, 22–45 mm in height including a stipe 2–5 mm long, subglobose to tuberiform; odor fungal; taste unknown. Peridium leathery, 1.5–4 mm thick, milky yellow (#FFF07A), sun orange (#FCD742), dull dirty orange (#EBD087) to dark thatch yellow (#CDC591), with a milky yellow (#FFF07A) to sun orange (#FCD742) context, becoming darker after damaged, with flaky to granular, concolorous or flint brown (#736960) to coal blue (#40474D) squamules to nearly smooth. Gleba compact at first, becoming pulverulent, coal blue (#40474D) to dull black (#0B0C0E). Basal rhizomorphs abundant, yellowish to orangish.

Basidiospores oblong at first, then mostly globose, rarely subglobose, {20/2/2} (6) 6.5–9 [7.73 ± 0.75, 7.50] µm in diameter including ornamentation when mature, thick-walled, with echinulate ornamentation 0.5–1 µm high, brownish to purplish. Basidia 13–20 × 5.5–7 μm, clavate, one- to eight-spored, thin-walled, nearly colorless. Gleba trama composed of 2–5 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 3–7 μm wide, thin-walled to slightly thick-walled, yellowish to brownish, moderately compact, moderately branching, interwoven hyphae with clamp connections. Peridial trama composed of 3–7 μm wide, slightly thick-walled, nearly colorless to slightly yellowish, 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 Fagaceae , Lauraceae and Pinaceae . Currently known from Asia ( China, Thailand & Vietnam) with molecular evidence.

Other collections examined:— China, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, Huangpu District, Muqiang Reservoir , exact location unknown, 113°27'E, 23°13'N, elevation 96 m, May 27, 2023, Yu-Rong Liang, ACE50-S2369 ( HTBM0312 ). GoogleMaps China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Yulin City, Xingye County, exact location unknown, June 3, 2023, Kun L. Yang, kindly donated by anonymous net friends, S2387 ( HTBM0330 ). China, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, Huangpu District, Jiangdong Village , Boluoshan Hill , 23°11'32"N, 113°32'25"E, elevation 150 m, June 29, 2023, Zhen-Chao Liu & Kun L. Yang, S23244 ( HTBM0487 ). GoogleMaps

Notes:— This is one of the numerous cryptic species recognized in the S. sinnamariense complex, see notes for Scleroderma gaibeioides for details.