Discovery of a new species of the hitherto monotypic genus Nothocybe Matheny & K.P.D. Latha from tropical India

A new species of Nothocybe Matheny & K.P.D. Latha, N. vanadurgae Manim. & K.P.D. Latha, sp. nov., is described from Kerala State, India, based on morphology and molecular phylogeny. The diagnostic characters of this species include small basidiocarps with a fibrillose-squamulose pileus, a fibrillose-pruinose stipe with a marginate-bulbous base, smooth basidiospores occasionally with a slight angularity, a sterile lamella-edge with cheilocystidia occasionally with a resinous substance at the apex and copious caulocystidia with a resinous coating at the apex. A phylogenetic analysis based on a concatenated dataset of nrITS, nrLSU and rpb2 confirmed the taxonomic position of this species within the genus Nothocybe of the family Inocybaceae. A comprehensive description of this species, photographs and line drawings of the basidiocarps and the microscopic structures, a detailed discussion and a phylogram showing its position within the genus Nothocybe, are provided.