Morphological and molecular evidence for a new species in Entoloma subgenus Claudopus from Sichuan Province, southwest China

• Entoloma alpinum, collected at high altitude regions in Sichuan Province of southwest China, is described as new.
• Phylogenetic relationships of E. alpinum and related species were analyzed based on ITS and nLSU sequences.
• Both morphological and molecular evidences confirmed E. alpinum is a member of Entoloma subgenus Claudopus.

Entoloma alpinum, discovered on alpine grassland in Sichuan Province of southwest China, is described as new based on morphological and molecular evidence. It is characterized by the pale colored and finely fibrillose pileus, well developed but always slightly eccentric stipe, 2-spored basidia, large and versiform basidiospores, and absence of cheilocystidia and clamp connections. Preliminary molecular phylogeny of E. alpinum and related species was carried out based on the sequences of nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and nuclear large subunit (nLSU) ribosomal RNA gene regions. Both morphological and molecular evidence confirmed that the new species is a member of Entoloma subgenus Claudopus.