A fungarium is like a library, but instead of books, it is filled with dried and preserved fungi. The largest of its kind is located at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London. Known as the Kew Fungarium, it features 1.25 million fungal specimens collected from every part of the world.
What Makes the Kew Fungarium Special?
What sets the Kew Fungarium apart is its diversity. The collection covers the entire fungal kingdom, from common mushrooms to the rare and endangered species. Specimens include truffles, lichens, molds, and even pathogenic fungi that affect crops and humans.
Some species are over 200 years old, and thus offer a glimpse into the past ecosystems and environmental shifts. These samples allow the scientists to track fungal evolution. The immense source of information in the fungarium makes it a great place for research.
How Are Fungi Preserved?
Specimens are carefully dried and stored in special containers to keep them from decaying, while delicate species like jelly fungi are preserved in ethanol or formalin. For DNA and biochemical research, some are frozen at ultra-low temperatures or kept in liquid nitrogen. Each fungus is cataloged with detailed notes on where, when, and how it was collected. And with modern technology, many of these specimens are now digitized, so researchers around the world can study them online.
Why is the Fungarium Important?
Scientists estimate that we’ve identified only about 6% of the world’s fungal species. The Fungarium plays a big role in describing new species and figuring out how they fit into ecosystems. From finding fungi that can break down plastic to studying their potential in fighting diseases, the Fungarium supports research with real-world impacts. With climate change and habitat destruction threatening fungi, preserving specimens ensures we don’t lose valuable information about species that might disappear.
How Can You Explore the Fungarium?
While the physical Fungarium isn’t open to the general public, Kew Gardens often hosts exhibitions and events showcasing its fungal treasures. You can also explore parts of the collection through Kew’s digital archive.
For those curious about fungi, visiting Kew Gardens is an opportunity to see how fungi contribute to biodiversity and innovation. You can even take a virtual tour of their projects and learn about the groundbreaking research happening behind the scenes.
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For a visual exploration of this outstanding collection, you can watch the following video:
Other Fungariums Around the World
While the Kew Fungarium is the largest, several other major fungariums/herbariums contribute significantly to global fungal research:
- Farlow Herbarium (Harvard University, USA)
Home to over 1.4 million specimens of fungi, algae, lichens, and mosses, this collection includes type specimens and historical contributions from leading mycologists. - New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) Herbarium, USA
The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at NYBG holds a collection of more than seven million preserved specimens across various plant groups, including fungi and lichens. - National Mycological Herbarium (DAOM), Canada
Based at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, DAOM includes over 350,000 specimens with a strong emphasis on plant pathogenic and forest fungi. - Mycological Herbarium of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (HMAS), China
This herbarium holds an extensive Asian fungal collection with particular focus on edible and medicinal species, including mushrooms used in traditional medicine. - U.S. National Fungus Collections (BPI), USA Housed within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. National Fungus Collections represent the world’s largest herbarium of dried fungal specimens, with over one million reference specimens.
- Arthur Fungarium (PUR) at Purdue University, USA Established in 1887 by Dr. Joseph C. Arthur, this fungarium is known for its extensive collection of rust fungi, containing nearly 110,000 specimens. It is considered one of the most important collections of rust fungi globally.
- Fungal Collection at the University of Florida Herbarium (FLAS), USA The University of Florida’s fungal herbarium holds over 58,000 specimens, including approximately 700 type specimens of mushrooms and related fungi.
- Fungal Herbarium at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark This herbarium displays around 200,000 fungal collections, with significant material from the Nordic countries and arctic areas, including Siberia.
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Netherlands Part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, this institute maintains one of the world’s largest collections of living fungi and bacteria, with more than 100,000 strains, serving as an international standard for microbiologists, ecologists, and geneticists.
- Botanische Staatssammlung München, Germany this herbarium contains about 3.2 million dried specimens of plants and fungi, reflecting approximately 25% of the world’s known plant species.
- University of Michigan Herbarium, USA With approximately 1.7 million specimens, this herbarium includes significant collections of fungi, algae, bryophytes, and lichens.
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