Additions to Galapagos Fungi 
G. W. Martin 1 
In CONNECTION with the investigations on 
tropical deterioration conducted by the Quarter¬ 
master Corps of the United States Army, oppor¬ 
tunity was afforded for a brief visit to South 
Seymour Island, in the Galapagos group, in 
early September, 1945, in company with Dr. E. 
S. Barghoorn and Mr. R. T. Darby. 
Traveling by plane from the Canal Zone, we 
also made short stops at Salinas, Ecuador, and 
Talara, Peru. In all three areas samples of tex¬ 
tiles, chiefly tentage, paulins, sandbags, and 
camouflage cloth, which had been exposed in the 
course of service, were collected. All of these 
regions are extremely arid, and it seemed worth 
while to attempt to learn what fungi had been 
able to attack fabrics under such conditions. 
That deterioration had occurred was abundantly 
evident from the state of the material sampled 
and, while the relative importance of biological 
agencies as compared with chemical and physi¬ 
cal factors in causing such deterioration is diffi¬ 
cult to evaluate, the suggestion is very strong 
that in fabrics in contact with or near the soil, 
the bulk of the deterioration is due to fungi. 
Since cultures were to be made from all sam¬ 
ples, a supply of previously sterilized test tubes, 
bottles, and heavy paper folders was carried, and 
all samples were placed in such sterilized con¬ 
tainers at the time of collection. In each local¬ 
ity, a few hours were available for miscellaneous 
collections, and these also were placed, when¬ 
ever it was suspected that cultures might profit¬ 
ably be made, in such sterile packets. The fol¬ 
lowing account treats only of those samples 
taken in the Galapagos. 
1 Professor of Botany, State University of Iowa, Iowa 
City, Iowa. Manuscript received May 13, 1947. 
South Seymour Island is small, roughly trian¬ 
gular in shape, about 5 miles long and miles 
wide in the southern portion, separated from 
the much larger Indefatigable (Santa Cruz) 
Island to the south by a narrow strait scarcely 
Vi mile wide. It is relatively low, although in 
the southeast it fronts the sea with precipitous 
cliffs arising abruptly for 200 feet. The surface 
is extremely irregular, with volcanic boulders of 
every size making progress difficult, except on 
the excellent roads. 
Svenson (1946) has recently published an 
extensive account of the vegetation of all three 
areas visited, and more than a casual mention 
of particular features connected with the fungi 
would be superfluous. The average annual rain¬ 
fall on South Seymour Island is less than 4.5 
inches, virtually all of it falling in the first 4 
months of the year. Yet, despite this and the 
numerous goats roaming the island, vegetation 
was surprisingly abundant in early September. 
The two most conspicuous plants are Bursera 
graveolens (HBK) Triana & Planch., a small, 
pale-barked tree, and a columnar-trunked Opun- 
tia, presumably O. insularis Stewart, but there 
are numerous other woody species, including the 
dark-green Scutia spicata (Willd.) Weberb., 
looking like a juniper or yew at a short dis¬ 
tance, and several legumes, one of which was in 
bloom at the time, its bright yellow flowers at¬ 
tracting numerous bees. Everywhere there is 
evidence of what must be a rather abundant 
growth of grass in the rainy season. 
The only extensive account of Galapagos 
fungi appears to be that of Bonar (1939), who 
cites the scanty earlier reports (four species 
under five names) and reports 59 species and 
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