So, how many of these funguses are there out there?

[FungiJus]

Folks,
Wanted to canvass opinion on this one - I have seen estimates of the number of species of British macro fungi ranging from 5,000 to somewhere in the millions but what's the truth

I have always believed it's around the 12,000 mark, but does anyone know how many species are actually in the checklist?

Cheers.
J.

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by FungiJus

Folks,
Wanted to canvass opinion on this one - I have seen estimates of the number of species of British macro fungi ranging from 5,000 to somewhere in the millions but what's the truth

I have always believed it's around the 12,000 mark, but does anyone know how many species are actually in the checklist?

Cheers.
J.

Hi J.

For British Macro fungi, Mushrooms & Toadstools that are Basidiomycetes, estimate a total of around 3000 species at present. If you start looking at Ascomycetes such as Morels, Helvella's etc then the number will rise, though many species belonging to this order are not macro but micro. The reason why you get these conflicting numbers, is when these two orders are combined.

Andy