Cantharellus hygrophorus, a new species in subgenus Afrocantharellus from tropical southwestern China

Cantharellus hygrophorus is described and illustrated from tropical Yunnan, China. It is characterized by its medium to large, fleshy fruitbodies, the deep orange-red color of pileus and part of the stipe, the yellow-orange hymenophore composed of well-developed gill folds, a pileipellis of suberect hyphal extremities and absence of clamps. These characters place it in Cantharellus subg. Afrocantharellus sect. Cutirellus as a look-alike of the tropical African C. splendens. Both morphological features as well as a phylogenetic analysis of nLSU sequences argue strongly against the recognition of Afrocantharellus as a separate genus, which is here considered a later synonym of Cantharellus.