The New York Botanical Garden Specimen Type Index for Mushrooms and Related Groups (Agaricales and Gasteromycetales)
Thiers, Barbara M. New York Botanical GardenWork is underway to catalog the type specimens of mushrooms and related groups of fungi at the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium, as a continuation of the type specimen imaging project.
A complete type catalog record for such fungi includes: verbatim transcription of specimen label, citation of place of publication of species, indication of type status, synonymy; geocoordinates for specimen collection location, image of type specimen (1-3 views, depending on size and shape), image of protologue, image of associated notes on fresh condition (from specimen label or from field book or other source), images of spore print, living organism, or microscopic features.
Because this group of fungi is characterized by an ephemeral spore-bearing structure that changes drastically upon drying, such additional documentation must supplement dried specimens to permit a complete evaluation of key taxonomic features. Transfer of the New York Botanical Garden's Virtual Herbarium to a new software platform, KE Software's Ke EMu, has permitted the creation of richer information resources for type specimens than was possible previously. These records, as all NYBG records, will be available for searching and download from NYBG website.