BERMUDA FUNGI 



Fred J. Seaver 



The New York Bota7iica'l Garden 



It is often stated by those who have visited the islands that 

 there are no fungi in Bermuda, at least none to speak of. It is 

 difficult to account for the prevalence of this idea unless it be that 

 many of the larger forms which one is accustomed to see in other 

 places are conspicuous by their absence in Bermuda, or if they do 

 occur, being short-lived, they are overlooked by visiting botanists. 

 Many of the fungi are at best so evanescent in their occurrence 

 that it is difficult to form an adequate conception of the fungous 

 flora of any region unless the place is visited frequently at different 

 seasons of the year or for an extended period of time. Even then 

 the region must be gone over with a "fine comb" in order to get a 

 fair representation of the smaller and more inconspicuous species. 



Whatever explanation may be offered, on account of the reputa- 

 tion which these islands have had, so far as their fungous flora is 

 concerned, they seem to have offered no inducement to mycologists. 

 Or perhaps this phase of their natural history has been over- 

 shadowed by the opportunities which are afforded for the study of 

 other cryptogams such as marine algae; at any rate the fungi 

 have received very little attention. Twenty-four species were 

 recorded in the report of the Challenger Expedition in 1883. 

 Professor Farlow has collected and described a few species. In 

 addition to these published records about forty species were col- 

 lected by Dr. and Mrs. B. O. Dodge during a recent visit, many of 

 which were duplicated during our own visit to Bermuda at a 

 later date. 



The parasitic fungi, which on account of their economic im- 

 portance are the first to attract attention, are quite abundant and 

 their number is gradually increasing, largely by importation, as 

 the work of agriculture and horticulture is becoming more extended 

 in this region. From the observations based on a two weeks' col- 

 lecting trip (November 29-December 14, 1912), the writer is 



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