The Fungi of Australia form an enormous and phenomenally diverse group, a huge range of freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats with many ecological roles, for example as saprobes, parasites and mutualistic symbionts of algae, animals and plants, and as agents of biodeterioration. Where plants produce, and animals consume, the

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

recycle, and as such they ensure the sustainability of ecosystems. Knowledge about the fungi of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

is meagre. Little is known about aboriginal cultural traditions involving fungi, or about aboriginal use of fungi apart from a few species such as Blackfellow's bread (''

Laccocephalum mylittae ''Laccocephalum mylittae'', commonly known as native bread or blackfellow's bread, is an edible Australian fungus. The hypogeous fruit body was a popular food item with Aboriginal people. It was originally described as ''Polyporus mylittae'' by ...

''). Humans who came to Australia over the past couple of centuries brought no strong fungal cultural traditions of their own. Fungi have also been largely overlooked in the scientific exploration of Australia. Since 1788, research on Australian fungi, initially by botanists and later by mycologists, has been spasmodic and intermittent. At governmental level, scientific neglect of Australian fungi continues: in the country's National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy for 2010–2030, fungi are mentioned only once, in the caption of one illustration, and some states currently lack mycologists in their respective fungal reference collections. The exact number of fungal species recorded from Australia is not known, but is likely to be about 13,000.Pascoe, I.G. (1991). History of systematic mycology in Australia. ''History of Systematic Botany in Australasia.'' Ed. by: P. Short. Australian Systematic Botany Society Inc. pp. 259-264. The

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

has published three volumes providing a bibliography of all Australian fungal species described. Volume 2A was published in 1997, and Volume 2B was published in 2003. Unlike the

Flora of Australia The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 30,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, ...

series they are bibliographic lists and do not contain species descriptions. The total number of fungi which actually occur in Australia, including those not yet discovered, has been estimated at around 250,000 fungal species, including about 5,000

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

s, of which roughly 5% have been described. Knowledge of distribution, substrata and habitats is poor for most species, with the exception of common plant pathogens. One result of this poor knowledge is that it is often difficult or even impossible to determine whether a given fungus is a native species or an introduction.

History

Early collections in Western Australia were made by James Drummond and

Ludwig Preiss Johann August Ludwig Preiss (21 November 1811 – 21 May 1883) was a German-born British botanist and zoologist. Early life Preiss was born in Herzberg am Harz. He obtained a doctorate, probably at Hamburg, then emigrated to Western Australia. ...

in the early to mid-19th Century. They sent their specimens to W.J. Hooker at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

and

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. Career Fries was born at Femsjö (Hylte Municipality), Småland, the son of the pastor there. He attended school in Växjö. He acquired ...

respectively.

John Burton Cleland Sir John Burton Cleland CBE (22 June 1878 – 11 August 1971) was a renowned Australian naturalist, microbiologist, mycologist and ornithologist. He was Professor of Pathology at the University of Adelaide and was consulted on high-level po ...

conducted the first systematic review of Australian fungi in a landmark monograph of fungal specimens at the South Australian Herbarium. Comprising some 16,000 specimens, this included fungi from elsewhere in the country as well as South Australia. He was assisted by such people as

Edwin Cheel Edwin Cheel (14 February 1872 – 19 September 1951) was an Australian botanist and collector. Before being appointed as a staff member of Centennial Park in 1897 he was a gardener in New South Wales and Queensland. Later he transferred to the R ...

, keeper of the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney,

Leonard Rodway Leonard Rodway (5 October 1853 – 9 March 1936) was an English-born Australian dentist and botanist. Early life Rodway was born in Torquay Devon, England, the thirteenth child of Henry Barron Rodway, a dentist and inventor of the Rodway life ...

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. 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 in 1997 as ''Larger Fungi of Southern Australia'' by contemporary

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

Cheryl Grgurinovic Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from ...

, 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. Published knowledge is augmented by locally produced guides in Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania.

Diversity

Ascomycota

Commonly called ascomycetes, this group, the

Ascomycota Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The def ...

, is likely to be the largest fungal phylum in Australia in terms of species numbers. Australia's ascomycetes include some large and conspicuous fungi, but the fruitbodies produced by most species are less than about 1 cm in their largest dimension. The range of habitats they occupy is the same as for the fungi as a whole. Most of Australia's lichen-forming fungi belong in this group. With a few exceptions, the ascomycetes of Australia are very poorly known, and many remain undiscovered. Partly because of their importance in forestry, species associated with ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

'' trees have received considerable attention and, with hundreds known to be associated with some of the more studied tree species, it is clear that these fungi form a huge, complex and important component of Australia's forests. Charismatic species include the "golf-fall fungi" (species of the genus ''

Cyttaria ''Cyttaria'' is a genus of ascomycete fungi. About 10 species belong to ''Cyttaria'', found in South America and Australia associated with or growing on southern beech trees from the genus ''Nothofagus''. The "llao llao" fungus '' Cyttaria hari ...

'') which occur only on living branches of ''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

'' trees. Australia's native

truffle A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''Peziz ...

s (subterranean ascomycetes) form another distinct and interesting group which remains poorly known.

Basidiomycota

Representatives of all three subdivisions of the

Basidiomycota Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

are found in Australia. These are the

Agaricomycotina The subdivision Agaricomycotina, also known as the hymenomycetes, is one of three taxa of the fungal division Basidiomycota (fungi bearing spores on basidia). The Agaricomycotina contain some 20,000 species, and about 98% of these are in the clas ...

(bracket fungi, jelly fungi, mushrooms and toadstools, puffballs etc., i.e. most of the species commonly understood to be fungi), the

Pucciniomycotina Pucciniomycotina is a subdivision of fungus within the division Basidiomycota. The subdivision contains 9 classes, 20 orders, and 37 families. Over 8400 species of Pucciniomycotina have been described - more than 8% of all described fungi. The s ...

(rust fungi), and the

Ustilaginomycotina The Ustilaginomycotina is a subdivision within the division Basidiomycota of the kingdom Fungi. It consists of the classes Ustilaginomycetes and Exobasidiomycetes, and in 2014 the subdivision was reclassified and the two additional classes Malas ...

(smut fungi).

Agaricomycotina

Native species 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, for the larger species, 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 focused upon fungi in Australia. There are several exceptions; one is the family

Hygrophoraceae The Hygrophoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics (gilled mushrooms), including ''Hygrophorus'' and ''Hygrocybe'' species (the waxcaps or waxy caps), DNA evide ...

, which has been written about by mycologist A. M. (Tony) Young in 2005. Another is a treatment of the genus ''

Mycena ''Mycena'' is a large genus of small saprotrophic mushrooms that are rarely more than a few centimeters in width. They are characterized by a white spore print, a small conical or bell-shaped cap, and a thin fragile stem. Most are gray or bro ...

'' in Southeastern Australia. The genus ''

Amanita The genus ''Amanita'' contains about 600 species of agarics, including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide, as well as some well-regarded edible species. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities result ...

'' 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.

Alec Wood Alec E. Wood (10 September 1933 - 23 March 2016) was a mycologist affiliated with the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia who published major studies, describing a large number of new species, in the genera '' Galerina''Wood AE (200 ...

has also published a study of the genus ''

Galerina ''Galerina'' is a genus of small brown-spore saprobic fungi (colloquially often ''mushrooms''), with over 300 species found throughout the world from the far north to remote Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean. The genus is most noted for some ...

'', describing 29 species, 21 of them new, primarily in New South Wales.Wood AE (2001) Studies in the genus ''Galerina''. ''Australian Systematic Botany'' 14, 615–676 A more usual state of affairs is that reported by

Roy Watling Roy Watling , PhD., DSc, FRSE, F.I.Biol., C.Biol., FLS (born 1938) is a Scottish mycologist who has made significant contributions to the study of fungi both in identification of new species and correct taxonomic placement, as well as in fung ...

with regard to

boletes {{refimprove, date=July 2020 A bolete is a type of mushroom, or fungal fruiting body. It can be identified thanks to a unique mushroom cap. The cap is clearly different from the stem. On the underside of the cap there is usually a spongy surfac ...

, that in Australia, it appears to be rich in species yet only a minority are described. Amanita muscaria Marriott Falls 1

With the notable exception of the gigantic ''

Phlebopus marginatus ''Phlebopus marginatus'', commonly known as the salmon gum mushroom in Western Australia, is a member of the Boletales or pored fungi. An imposing sight in forests of south-eastern and south-western Australia, it is possibly Australia's larges ...

'', possibly Australia's largest mushroom, many of the most conspicuous fungi have been introduced in association with exotic soil and trees; ''

Lactarius deliciosus ''Lactarius deliciosus'', commonly known as the saffron milk cap and red pine mushroom, is one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus ''Lactarius'' in the order Russulales. It is native to Europe, but has been accidentally introdu ...

'', ''

Chalciporus piperatus ''Chalciporus piperatus'', commonly known as the peppery bolete, is a small pored mushroom of the family Boletaceae found in mixed woodland in Europe and North America. It has been recorded under introduced trees in Brazil, and has become n ...

'', ''

Suillus luteus ''Suillus luteus'' is a bolete fungus, and the type species of the genus ''Suillus''. A common fungus native all across Eurasia from Ireland to Korea, it has been introduced widely elsewhere, including North and South America, southern Africa ...

'' and '' Suillus granulatus'' are European fungi found in pine plantations in Eastern Australia. The deadly ''

Amanita phalloides ''Amanita phalloides'' (), commonly known as the death cap, is a deadly poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus ''Amanita''. Widely distributed across Europe, but now sprouting in other parts of the world, ''A. phalloides ...

'' is found under

Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

in urban

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and has caused deaths. There are concerns at least one of them, ''

Amanita muscaria ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus ''Amanita''. It is also a muscimol mushroom. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, ''Amanita muscar ...

'' is spreading into (and forming new

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...

l associations with) native ''

'' woodland and possibly displacing local species. Lawns, farms and parklands see exotic fungi such as the shaggy ink cap (''

Coprinus comatus ''Coprinus comatus'', the shaggy ink cap, lawyer's wig, or shaggy mane, is a common fungus often seen growing on lawns, along gravel roads and waste areas. The young fruit bodies first appear as white cylinders emerging from the ground, then th ...

''), the poisonous ''

Chlorophyllum molybdites ''Chlorophyllum molybdites,'' which has the common names of false parasol, green-spored Lepiota and vomiter, is a widespread mushroom. Poisonous and producing severe gastrointestinal symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea, it is commonly conflated wi ...

'' and several species of ''

Agaricus ''Agaricus'' is a genus of mushrooms containing both edible and poisonous species, with over 400 members worldwide and possibly again as many disputed or newly-discovered species. The genus includes the common ("button") mushroom (''Agaricus bisp ...

'', including the edible '' A. bisporus'' and '' A. campestris'' as well as mildly poisonous '' A. xanthodermus''. Mycorrhiza of ''

Rhizopogon luteolus ''Rhizopogon luteolus'' is an ectomycorrhizal fungus used as a soil inoculant in agriculture and horticulture. It was deliberately introduced into ''Pinus radiata'' plantations in Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as ...

'' was deliberately introduced to improve the performance of pines in pine plantations in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in the early part of the 20th century. The stinkhorn-like species '' Aseroë rubra'' is significant in that it is the first fungus species known to have been introduced in the other direction, namely to Europe, from Australia. It was recorded growing on soil transported from Australia in a glasshouse in

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

in 1829.

Pucciniomycotina

Rust fungi are a large group of plant parasites. Many of them are highly host-specific. Some cause significant losses to economic crops, and where the crop itself is an introduction to Australia, the rusts on that crop may also be non-native. Rusts on native species are likely to form an important component of the natural checks and balances of native ecosystems, and may have their own distinctive conservation needs. There seems to have been no compilation of information about the rust fungi of Australia since the detailed monograph by McAlpine (2006).

Ustilaginomycotina

These fungi are parasites, mainly of flowering plants. Unlike the

, they are usually small and easily missed by the untrained eye. These fungi are most easily noticed when they produce their fruiting structures, called sori, which are most often confined to the host flower, but may also sometimes be seen on fruits and leaves. In Australia, 296 smut species from 43 genera have been recorded.

Non-Dikarya

Apart from fungi of the subkingdom

Dikarya Dikarya is a subkingdom of Fungi that includes the divisions Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, both of which in general produce dikaryons, may be filamentous or unicellular, but are always without flagella. The Dikarya are most of the so-called "hig ...

, such as those described above (Ascomycota and Basidiomycota), some non-Dikarya fungi are known to have relatively high diversity in Australia; e.g. ''

Backusella ''Backusella'' is the sole genus of zygote fungi in the family Backusellaceae, which is classified in the order Mucorales. Members of this genus have been often isolated from plant litter, from locations around the world. Taxonomy C. W. Hessel ...

''.

Mycologists

Selected mycologists that have made significant contributions to Australian mycology: *

(born 1933), abbreviated as A.E.Wood * Anthony M. Young, abbreviated as A.M.Young * Bruce Fuhrer (born 1930), abbreviated as Fuhrer *

Joan Cribb Joan Winifred Cribb (née Herbert; born 1930) is an Australian botanist and mycology, mycologist. She was born in Brisbane, Queensland, the daughter of botanists Vera and Desmond Herbert. She graduated from the University of Queensland with a ...

(1920–2007) *

(1878–1971),

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

as Cleland * Sally E. Smith * Tom May, abbreviated as T.W.May

Literature

Many of the books on Australian fungi are listed below:CSIRO
, publication listing
, listing of Australian fungi publications,Fungimap
, bookstore listing various publications

General

* Young & Smith (1982). ''Common Australian Fungi''. University of New South Wales Press. . * Various authors (1996). ''Fungi of Australia Volume 1A''. CSIRO Publishing/ABRS. . * Various authors (1996). ''Fungi of Australia Volume 1B''. CSIRO Publishing/ABRS. . * May & Wood (1997). ''Fungi of Australia Volume 2A''. CSIRO Publishing/ABRS. . * Jones, May, Milne & Shingles (2003). ''Fungi of Australia Volume 2B''. CSIRO Publishing/ABRS. . * McCann (2003). ''Australian fungi illustrated''. Macdown Productions. . * Grey, Pat & Ed (2005). ''Fungi Down Under''. Fungimap. . * Fuhrer (2005). ''A Field Guide to Australian Fungi''. Bloomings Books. . * Young & Smith (2005). ''A Field Guide to the Fungi of Australia''. UNSW Press. . * Negus & Scott (2006). ''The Magical World of Fungi''. Cape to Cape Publishing. .

Region or taxon specific

* Willis (1963). ''Victorian Toadstools and Mushrooms''. Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. * Aberdeen (1979). ''Introduction to the Mushrooms, Toadstools and Larger Fungi of Queensland''. Queensland Naturalists Club. * Macdonald & Westerman (1979). ''Fungi of South-Eastern Australia''. Thomas Nelson. . * Cole, Fuhrer & Holland (1984). ''A Field Guide to the Common Genera of Gilled Fungi of Australia''. Inkata Press. . * Griffiths (1985). ''A Field Guide to the Larger Fungi of the Darling Scarp & South West of Western Australia'' Privately published. . * Shepherd & Totterdell (1988). ''Mushrooms and Toadstools of Australia''. Inkata Press. . * Wood (1990). ''Australian Mushrooms and Toadstools'' New South Wales University Press. . * Fuhrer & Robinson (1992). ''Rainforest fungi of Tasmania and south-east Australia''. CSIRO publishing. . * Grgurinovic (1997). ''Larger Fungi of South Australia''. Flora and Fauna of South Australia Handbooks Committee. . * Bougher & Syme (1998). ''Fungi of Southern Australia''. University of Western Australia Press. . * Grgurinovic (2003). ''The Genus Mycena in South-Eastern Australia''. Fungal Diversity Press/ABRS. . * Robinson (2003). ''Fungi of the South-West Forests''. Department of Environment and Conservation. . * Hood (2003). ''An Introduction to Fungi on Wood in Queensland''. University of New England. . * Young (2005). ''Fungi of Australia Hygrophoraceae''. CSIRO Publishing/ABRS. . * Bell (2005). ''An Illustrated Guide to the Coprophilous Ascomycetes of Australia''. APS Press. . * Priest (2006). ''Fungi of Australia Septoria''. CSIRO Publishing/ABRS. . * Bougher (2007). ''Perth Urban Bushland Fungi Field Book''. PUBF. * Tait (2007) ''Fungi out west''. Chinchilla Field Naturalist's Club. . * Vánky & Shivas (2008). ''Fungi of Australia The Smut Fungi''. CSIRO Publishing/ABRS. . * (2013) ''Fungi of the Wombat Forest and Macedon Ranges''. Wombat Forestcare. * McMullan-Fisher, Leonard Guard (2014). Australian Subtropical Fungi. Fungimap . * Guard McMullan-Fisher (2016). Fungi of the Sunshine Coast
Queensland Mycological Society
Brisbane. * Guard McMullan-Fisher (2016). Mushrooms of the Sunshine Coast
Queensland Mycological Society
Brisbane.

References

External links

{{commons category
Interactive Catalogue of Australian Fungi
— Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra/Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne * D.A. Ratkowsky and G.M. Gates. (December 2005
An inventory of macrofungi observed in Tasmanian forests over a six-year period
''Tasforests'', Vol. 16, pp. 153–168.
Fungimap
a resource on Australian fungi and citizen science project
Queensland Mycological Society
A community science and education network for the identification and research of Queensland fungi