After mother-daughter cell conjugation, formation of long holobasidia with terminal basidiospores was observed without mycelium production in Rhodomyces dendrorhous (including the type strain of Phaffia rhodozyma) on polyol-containing media. Basidiospores are not forcibly discharged and germinate by budding. A new genus Xanthophyllomyces (Filobasidiaceae, Tremellales) with a species, X. dendrorhous, is proposed for the teleomorphic state of R. dendrorhous.