Australasian truffle-like fungi. IX. History and current trends in the study of the taxonomy of sequestrate macrofungi from Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Australian sequestrate macrofungi have not been studied extensively until recently, even though their presence in Australia was recognised over 120 years ago by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller in connection with mycophagy by marsupials. The early mycological history in Australia is linked to the first expeditions and collections of plant material by naturalists from 1790 to 1830. These collections were sent to, and described by, foreign mycologists such as the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, the Rev. C. Kalchbrenner and E. M. Fries. M. C. Cooke's (1892) Handbook of Australian Fungi was the first attempt at compiling an Australian mycoflora. D. McAlpine and L. Rodway were the first resident collectors to expand on the information collated by Cooke. Later, G. H. Cunningham (1944) wrote The Gasteromycetes of New Zealand and Australia, bringing together the taxonomy of all known sequestrate macrofungi in the region. By 1895 approximately 2000 species of fungi had been recorded from Australia, 32 of them sequestrate. Recent intensive efforts in limited habitats have expanded our knowledge considerably, with more than 600 new species of sequestrate fungi recorded over the past 7 years. Many more remain to be discovered in Australia and New Zealand and knowledge of their biology and ecology needs to be developed.