Gliophorus alboviscidus D. J. Harries & G. W. Griff. 2026, sp. nov.

Gliophorus alboviscidus D. J. Harries & G. W. Griff. sp. nov. Fig. 1 Etymology. Refers to the white colour and viscid nature of the basidiomata. Diagnosis. Basidiomata resembling Gliophorus irrigatus, but lacking grey or brownish colours. ITS sequences strongly divergent (9.7 %). Holotypus. UK • Wales, Pembrokeshire, Somerton Farm near Hundleton, 51.6610, -4.9913, in undisturbed grazed grassland, 18 Oct 2021, D. J. Harries (voucher ABS: DJH 21 -29, [ABS = Aberystwyth University biorepository], holotype; K-M 001434165, isotype) (GenBank ITS: OP 220998; nrLSU: OP 221000). UNITE / PlutoF: SH 0910869.10 FU (1.5 % threshold). Description. Pileus 10–40 mm diam., convex to broadly campanulate, becoming applanate to subumbonate with age, margin faintly translucently striate to one third of disc, viscid, white with pale Buff tint (1.0 Y 6.0 / 7.0) over the centre (Fig. 1 A, B). Stipe 30–50 × 3–5 mm, cylindrical, hollow, viscid, white. Lamellae subdecurrent to decurrent, white. Taste and odour indistinct. Basidiospores broadly ellipsoid or ovoid, (5.5 –) 6.0–8.0 × 4.5–6.0 (– 6.5) μm (mean 7.0 × 5.0), Q = 1.2–1.7 (mean 1.4) (type collection, 3 sporocarps, n = 70), spore print white. Basidia 40–50 × 5–8 μm, predominantly 4 - spored. Cystidia absent on lamellae. Hymenophoral trama sub-regular. Pileipellis and stipitipellis an ixotrichoderm. Habitat. Recorded on soil in undisturbed grassland managed through cattle-grazing and hay cropping or of low nutrient status, regularly mown, amenity grassland, unploughed for over 50 years and not subjected to any synthetic fertiliser application. Geographical distribution. Basidiomes hitherto only observed in the UK, but eDNA data suggest a wider distribution across north-east Asia (Fig. 3 A). Other specimens examined. UK • England, West Sussex, Henfield, St. Peter’s Church, 50.9325, -0.2765, in mown grassland (cemetery) on soil, 27 Sep 2019, Clare M. Blencowe, ABS: CMB 54; K-M 001434166), morphologically near-identical to holotype (Fig. 1 C, D) (ITS: OP 220999). An exact match to the ITS 2 sequence of this species was detected in soil eDNA (ITS 2: PX 746787) from ancient grassland at Hardwick Hall, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England (52.2294, 0.7023; Griffith, unpublished data; Fig. 3 A). Notes. By way of a common English name for this new species, we suggest pearlescent waxcap (Cap Cwyr Perlaidd in Welsh).