Fungi of Australia

Compared with many other nations and continents, the knowledge of the fungal flora of Australia is meagre. Unlike many countries with centuries of accumulated knowledge both cultural and later scientific, Australia has lacked input on both. Little is known of aboriginal use of fungi apart from a few species such as Blackfellow's bread (Laccocephalum mylittae), and research by botanists and mycologists since 1788 has been spasmodic and intermittent. Indeed some states currently lack mycologists in their respective herbaria.

Australia is estimated to have about 250,000 fungal species, including about 5000 mushrooms, of which roughly 5% have been described.^[1] Knowledge of distribution, substrates and habitats is poor for most species, with the exception of common plant pathogens.^[2]

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Introduced fungi

With the notable exception of the gigantic Phlebopus marginatus, possibly Australia's largest mushroom, many of the most conspicuous fungi are those which have been introduced in association with exotic trees; Lactarius deliciosus, Suillus luteus and Suillus granulatus are European fungi which may be found in pine plantations in Eastern Australia. The deadly Amanita phalloides is found under Oak in urban Canberra and Melbourne and has caused deaths. There are concerns at least one of them, Amanita muscaria is spreading into (and forming new mycorrhizal associations with) native Nothofagus woodland and possibly displacing local species.^[3] Mycorrhiza of Rhizopogon luteolus was deliberately introduced to improve the performance of pines in pine plantations in Western Australia in the early part of the 20th century.^[4]

Another introduced fungus is Phytophthora cinnamomi, known as Dieback or Rootrot from the common names of the disease in Western Australian bush flora and garden plants respectively. Large swathes of bushland have been affected right across the country with many flora, principally members of the Proteaceae and Myrtaceae affected.

Native fungi

  On the whole, native fungi are very poorly known, with most taxa undescribed. For those that have been, there are huge gaps in knowledge, especially with respect to distribution and edibility. Reasons for this include the brief and unpredictable appearance of fruiting bodies, often the only evidence of most species, and the fact that there has been comparatively little scientific attention focussed upon fungi in Australia.^[5]

There are several exceptions; one is the family Hygrophoraceae which has been the subject of a treatment by mycologist A. M. (Tony) Young in 2005.^[6] Another is a treatment of the genus Mycena in Southeastern Australia.^[7] The genus Amanita has been the subject of two reviews but a microscope is still needed to distinguish many species and coverage has concentrated in Australia's eastern regions.^[8][9] Alec Wood has also published a study of the genus Galerina, describing 29 species, 21 of them new, primarily in New South Wales.^[10] A more usual state of affairs is that reported by Roy Watling with regard to boletes, that it Australia appears to be rich in species yet only a minority are described.^[11]

CSIRO publishing has published three volumes on the bibliography of all Australian fungal species described; Volume 2A, published in 1997, and Volume 2B, published in 2003.^[12][13] Unlike the Flora of Australia series they are bibliographic lists and do not contain species descriptions.

History

Early collections in Western Australia were made by James Drummond and Ludwig Preiss in the early to mid-19th Century. They sent their specimens to W. J. Hooker at Kew and Elias Magnus Fries respectively.

John Burton Cleland conducted the first systematic review of Australian fungi in a landmark monograph of fungal specimens at the South Australian Herbarium. Comprising some 16000 specimens, this included fungi from elsewhere in the country as well as South Australia. He was assisted by such people as Edwin Cheel, keeper of the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Leonard Rodway of Tasmania and Phyllis Clarke (later North), who provided some watercolour paintings. These three were honoured with at least one specific epithet of new species described by Cleland.^[4] This resulted in two comprehensive volumes (1934-35) on the larger fungi of South Australia, and was reprinted in 1976. These were reworked and published recently in 1997 by contemporary mycologist Cheryl Grgurinovic, though funding only allowed the publication of a volume on larger fungi.

Bruce Fuhrer and Tony Young, whose book was first published in 1982 and has been revised several times since, have been instrumental in promoting Australian fungi to the general public with popular books on fungi in Australia.^[14][15] Published knowledge is augmented by locally produced guides in Western Australia,^[16] Queensland and Tasmania.^[17]

References