Mycological Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute Ras. Xi. Lichenicolous Fung

The mycological herbarium within the V.L. Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (LE F) contains 6307 specimens of lichenicolous fungi representing 667 species in 197 genera, which covers about a quarter of the known species and about half of the genera in this group of fungi. This assemblage it on a par with the world’s largest collections of lichenicolous fungi such as the herbaria at the Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University (UPS), Meise Botanic Garden (BR), and Botanische Staatssammlung München (M). The LE F herbarium contains holotypes, isotypes, epitype and neotype of 131 species and 5 varieties of lichenicolous fungi, which represents about 5% of their known species diversity. The majority (73%) of specimens were collected from the mid-1990s onwards, when a focused study of this group of fungi was initiated in the Russian Federation. However, there are also some historical specimens collected in the 19th century. One hundred and eighty--eight (3%) specimens entered the herbarium as part of the exsiccate. The largest number of specimens (71%) were collected in the Russian Federation, but there are also specimens from 33 other countries, the most represented being Mongolia, United States of America, Canada, and Norway. The main principals of the 326 specimen collectors are M.P. Zhurbenko (52% of specimens), I.I. Makarova (5%), N.V. Matveeva (3%), D.E. Himelbrant (3%), and V.P. Savicz (2%). Sufficient representation of the sample of lichenicolous fungi specimens in the LE F herbarium has made it possible to make major generalizations, such as checklists of lichenicolous fungi of Russia and Mongolia and an annotated catalogue of lichenicolous fungi of the Russian Meta-arctic. The information on these specimens is available on the Internet and is an important source of information for the preparation of a worldwide “Flora of Lichenicolous Fungi”.