Morphological and molecular evidence for a new species of Postia (Basidiomycota) from China

A new polypore, Postia hirsuta sp. nov., collected in Shaanxi Province, central China, is described and illustrated on the basis of morphological characters and molecular data. This fungus is characterized by an annual growth, pileate basidiocarps with a mouse-grey and hirsute pileal surface, a white to straw-colored pore surface, a monomitic hyphal system with thick-walled generative hyphae, and allantoid to cylindrical basidiospores (4-4.8 x 1-1.2 mu m). Phylogenetic inferences based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and nuclear large subunit (nLSU) ribosomal RNA gene regions supported Postia hirsuta as a distinct species in Postia.