A new endophytic fungus Neofabraea illicii isolated from Illicium verum

•A new ascomycete Neofabraea illicii with Cryptosporiopsis anamorph was described based on morphology and molecular phylogeny.•The fungus was isolated as an endophyte from economically important plant, Illicium verum, in southern China.•The fungus produced conidia on manual media, and asci on autoclaved leaves in vitro.

A new ascomyceteous species Neofabraea illicii was isolated as an endophytic fungus from economically important plant, Illicium verum, in a plantation in southern China. Neofabraea illicii morphologically differs from N. alba, N. krawtzewii, N. malicorticis and N. perennans by its shorter asci and smaller ascospore size, from N. kienholzii by larger conidia, and from N. eucalypti by its 1-septate ascospores. Phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions using maximum parsimony and Bayesian methods indicates that N. illicii is distinct.