Pseudohydnum brunneiceps Y. Lu Chen, M. S. Su & L. P. Zhang

Pseudohydnum brunneiceps Y. Lu Chen, M. S. Su & L. P. Zhang, Phytotaxa 441 (1): 91 (2020) Fig. 2 Description. Basidiomata medium-sized, gelatinous when fresh, pileate, laterally stipitate, solitary or gregarious. Pileus up to 40 mm in widest diameter and 6 mm thick, spathulate to flabellate or semicircular; pileal surface strigose, dark gray to grayish black, translucent when fresh; margin sharp to blunt, entire, undulating, fertile. Hymenophore hydnoid; spines sharp-tipped, 1–2 mm long, 2–3 per mm, milky white to pale grayish white. Stipe 30–40 mm long, 10–15 mm in diam., lateral, dark watery-grayish to gray, equal, compressed, translucent; surface strigose or partially covered with spines. Context gelatinous, translucent, unchanging. Odor and taste mild. Basidiospores [60 / 3 / 2] (7.2 –) 7.5–9.0 (– 9.5) × (6.7 –) 7.0–8.5 (– 8.8) μm, Q = (1.00 –) 1.02–1.15 (– 1.16), Qm = 1.07 ± 0.04, globose to subglobose, occasionally broadly ellipsoid, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, nonamyloid, with a small apiculus, frequently germinating by repetition or by germ tubes on the surface. Basidia 11–16 × 8–11 μm, longitudinally cruciate-septate, predominantly 2 - spored, occasionally 4 - spored, arranged in a dense palisade extending to the spine apices; sterigmata up to 27 × 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, 1–6 μm in diam., occasionally inflated up to 15 μm, thin- or slightly thick-walled, hyaline to brownish. Contextual hyphae 1-4 μm in diam., occasionally inflated up to 10 μm, interwoven, thin- to slightly thick-walled, hyaline. Subhymenial hyphae hyaline, thin-walled, interwoven or anastomosing, 2–7 μm in diam. Ecology and distribution. Growing on decayed conifer wood (predominantly Cryptomeria japonica) and Phyllostachys edulis (bamboo). Currently known from Central, East, and Southeast China, including Anhui, Hunan, and Jiangxi provinces. Specimens examined. China • Anhui Province, Shitai County (石台县), Xianyu Mountain Scenic Area (仙寓山风景区), 30°01'06"N, 117°16'34"E, elev. 1,050 m, on decaying Phyllostachys edulis, 21 July 2023, leg. T. J. Yu (MHKMU YTJ 129, MHKMU YTJ 129-1); • ibid., Dingxiang Town (丁香镇), 30°07'54"N, 117°19'26"E, elev. 370 m, on decaying Phyllostachys edulis, 18 July 2024, leg. J. Li (MHKMU LJ 140). Comments. Pseudohydnum brunneiceps was originally described from Jiangxi, China, on decayed coniferous wood, particularly Cryptomeria japonica (Chen et al. 2020), and later documented from Hunan on similar substrates (Spirin et al. 2023). Our collections extend the known distribution of P. brunneiceps to Anhui, where this species is locally common and harvested for consumption in the southern montane areas. Notably, contrary to previous reports of an exclusive conifer association (Chen et al. 2020; Spirin et al. 2023), all Anhui specimens were consistently found on decayed bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), indicating a broader host range than previously recognized. To our knowledge, this is the first record of any Pseudohydnum species on bamboo.