Systematic Resources

This is a page of systematic (taxonomic and nomenclatural) resources for the higher fungi. It is intended to help amateur mycologists go beyond the field guide in their study of the identification and classification of the higher fungi.

References On-Line
Descriptions and Keys On-Line
Bibliographies
Molecular Phylogeny
Mycology Labs & Herbaria
Useful Photographs On-Line

References On-Line

CABI Bioscience Databases
- Database of Fungal Names (Index Fungorum)
  You can search by name or epithet. Examples: (1.) A name search for "Boletus" returns a list of 1868 names beginning with Boletus aberrans J. Blum and ending with Boletus zonatus Nees. (2.) A name search for "Boletus edulis" returns 47 names. (3.) A epithet search for "edulis" returns 75 names. Most names returned are complete with author citation, many also have the literature citation.
- The Bibliography of Systematic Mycology
  The print version of the The Bibliography of Systematic Mycology has been the essential reference for systematic (taxonomic and nomenclatural) mycological literature since 1943. The on-line version has references going back to 1986. You can search by Genus or Author to get a list of references. A fundamental resource.
- Classification from the 9th edition of the Dictionary of the Fungi
  A search on a genus name returns the taxonomic hierarchy for that name from the Dictionary of the Fungi. For example: a search on "Boletus" returns "Boletus Fr. 1821, Boletaceae, Boletales, Basidiomycetes, Basidiomycota, Fungi".
- Family Names Databases
  Search on fungal family names.
Fungi of Australia: Glossary
An excellent mycological glossary.
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature is the "rulebook" that governs the naming of all plants and fungi. The latest ICBN is the "Vienna" code from 2005. Older versions are also available: the "St. Louis" code from 1999 and the "Tokyo Code" from 1994. The ICBN is available in print from Koeltz Scientific Books.
A Guide to Botanical Nomenclature
A "Tennessee Tutorial" by Ronald H. Petersen. This tutorial will help make sense of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
Glossary of "Type" Terminology:
Holotype, Isotype, Lectotype, Neotype etc. defined.
Singer Index
A searchable database for Rolf Singer's fungal genera, species, infra-species, and publications. Singer named 86 genera, over 2460 species and infraspecies of fungi in 440 papers and books.
The Colors of Ridgway and Methuen (Kornerup & Wansher)
"An Eye-Ball Concordance" by Ronald H. Petersen. Consistent color names are essential to good descriptions of fungi. Ridgway and Methuen are the two most used color books in mycology. Most technical descriptions will cite colors using one of these books. Ridgway is very old (1912) and very expensive ($300 to $1500, depending on condition). Methuen is newer (mine is 3rd ed., 1978), but out-of-print and hard to find. This site helps translate the colors of one book into the other. There is also a useful "Concordance to the colors used by E. M. Fries".
Author Query
A searchable database of author names and their standard forms. The basis of this database is Brummitt & Powell's Authors of Plant Names (1992).
Conserved Plant Names
All proposals for conservation or rejection of scientific names of fungi and plants are now published in Taxon. This is a searchable database to the names proposed for conservation or rejection since the first proposals in 1892.
Cyberliber: An Electronic Library for Mycology
Extensive bibliographic information, plus selected scanned journals. The first 60 issues of Mycotaxon have been scanned and are available as JPG images.
Fungal nomenclature
Information and discussions on current proposals regarding fungal nomenclature by the Committee for Fungi of the International Botanical Congress