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U.S. National Fungus Collections

The U.S. National Fungus Collections (BPI) are the “Smithsonian for fungi” and are the repository for over one million fungal specimens worldwide - the largest such collections in the world. The collection includes preserved organisms, their parts and products, and their associated data. Information associated with these specimens constitute an enormous data resource, especially about plant-associated fungi. The collections document fungi through time and space for the past 200 years.

Data from the labels of more than 750,000 of the specimens have been entered into a database. These labels have information on the host on which the fungus was found and the locality in which the specimen was collected. Sixty percent of these specimens are from the United States and thus represent a large body of information about the fungi in this country.

Data entry has been completed for the Uredinales (rusts), the Ustilaginales (smuts), the Polyporales (polypores), the Deuteromycetes (imperfect fungi), the Ascomycetes, and the C.G. Lloyd collections. Recent progress has been made in the computerization of specimens of the agarics and the "lower" fungi including the Oomycetes and Chytridiomycetes.

FieldValue
Tags
Modified
2021-09-23
Release Date
2016-09-27
Identifier
44f760d4-cbca-453b-92a9-867b52402279
Spatial / Geographical Coverage Area
POLYGON ((-541.87497138977 -83.230904994267, -541.87497138977 84.901313481353, -166.40622138977 84.901313481353, -166.40622138977 -83.230904994267))
Publisher
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
Temporal Coverage
January 1, 1800
License
Contact Name
Castlebury, Lisa A.
Contact Email
Public Access Level
Public
Program Code
005:040 - Department of Agriculture - National Research
Bureau Code
005:18 - Agricultural Research Service