Rhodocybe paurii, a new species from the Indian Himalaya.

A new species of Entolomataceae, Rhodocybe paurii, is described from Garhwal in the western Indian Himalaya. This species grows on wood in dense clusters and belongs to section Claudopodes Singer ex Baroni because of its pleurotoid habit and lack of hymenial pseudocystidia. It is distinguished from the other pleurotoid species in that section by its layered caespitose habit, a brown spore deposit and a tomentose pileus surface composed of a well-developed layer of hyaline, erect, filamentous hyphae. Phylogenetic analysis using nucleotide sequence data from the nuclear large ribosomal subunit gene indicates a close relationship between R. paurii and the type species of the genus, Rhodocybe caelata. This analysis also suggests a possible paraphyly of the genus Rhodocybe and supports monophyly of Entoloma sensu lato.