Taxonomy and phylogeny of Cortinarius sect. Anomali in China

Cortinarius section Anomali is a species-rich group that occurs worldwide, particularly in Europe and North America. The overlapping morphological and microscopical characteristics of Anomali species pose significant challenges for species identification. Therefore, the focus of this study was to clarify the taxonomy and phylogeny of section Anomali in China.

A total of 229 specimens of section Anomali were collected in China over the past two decades. The present study, based on a combination of extensive morphological investigations and molecular methods, reports 22 Anomali species. Eleven of them are recognized as new to science and formally described here as C. albocyaneoides, C. campanianomalus, C. microalbocyaneus, C. neocaninus, C. qilianensis, C. robustianomalus, C. rufolilacinus, C. subalbocyaneus, C. subanomalus, C. xizangensis, and C. vernalianomalus, respectively.

Cortinarius albocyaneus, C. azureovelatus, C.caninus, C. kranabetteri, C. lepidopus, and C. perrotensis are reported in China for the first time. In addition, the occurrence of C. cinnamomeolilacinus, C. epsomiensis, C. subclackamasensis, C. tabularis, and C. tropicus in China is confirmed. Descriptions, accompanied by illustrations of morphological characters of the Chinese Anomali species, and comparisons with closely related taxa are provided.

The present study reports Cortinarius section Anomali in China or Asia, clarifying taxonomy and conducting phylogeny analyses based on nrITS, nrLSU, rpb1 and rpb2 sequences. We compare the Anomali species from China with those in Europe and North America, enriching the species and sequences of sect. Anomali.

In addition, the ornamentation of basidiospores was studied using scanning electron microscopy.

Citation

Xie ML, Dima B, Wang K, Phukhamsakda C, Li Y, Qi LL, Li GJ, Liu TZ, Jia PS, Wang Q, Song LR, Wei TZ, Li Y (2025). Taxonomy and phylogeny of Cortinarius sect. Anomali in China.

Persoonia 54: 225–263. doi: 10.3114/persoonia.2025.54.07 Received: 13 October 2023; Accepted: 23 April 2025; Effectively published online: 16 May 2025 Corresponding editor: J. Nuytinck