Updated taxonomy of Chinese Clavaria subg. Syncoryne (Clavariaceae, Agaricales): description of two new species  and one newly recorded species

Abstract Species of Clavaria (Clavariaceae, Agaricales) collected from China were studied using morphological and molecular methods. Two species, C. aspersa and C. hupingshanensis, are here described as new to science; the former possesses simple, scattered to gregarious or with pairs slightly fascicled, white basidiomata, whereas the latter has simple, gregarious to caespitose clusters, rose-white to seashell-pink basidiomata. In addition, C. amoenoides is described as a newly recorded species for China; this species is characterized by simple, very pale orange-yellow to picric-yellow basidiomata. A phylogenetic analysis was conducted based on a combined dataset of internal transcribed spacer, nuclear ribosomal RNA large subunit and the RNA polymerase Ⅱ second largest subunit sequences. The phylogenetic reconstruction resolved accessions of the three species into three independent lineages within the Clavaria. The morphology of the three species is described in detail and is illustrated with line drawings and photographs. Holotypes of the new species are deposited in the Mycological Herbarium of Hunan Normal University. The sequences newly generated in this study have been deposited in GenBank. An updated key to the known Clavaria species in China is provided.