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Title: HYPOCREALES OF THE SOUTH-EASTERN UNITED STATES: AN IDENTIFICATION GUIDE

Author
item Samuels, Gary
item Rossman, Amy
item CHAVERRI, PRISCILA - CORNELL U, ITHACA, NY
item OVERTON, BARRIE - PA ST U, UNIV PK, PA
item POLDMAA, KADRI - TALLINEN, ESTONIA

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/15/2005
Publication Date: 2/20/2006
Citation: Samuels, G.J., Rossman, A.Y., Chaverri, P., Overton, B., Poldmaa, K. 2006. Hypocreales of the South-eastern United States: An Identification Guide. Utrecht: Centraalbureau voor Schimmel cultures. 145 p.

Interpretive Summary: Fungi are a diverse group of organisms, some of which attack plants and annually cause billions of dollars of crop and forest losses in the United States. A major problem facing U.S. agriculture and forestry is that the fungi that cause plant diseases are microscopic and very difficult to accurately identify. This book is an identification manual for about 100 species within a group of fungi called the Hypocreales; the book is devoted to those species found in or near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the southeastern United States. The manual includes photographs of the external and internal features that are needed to identify the fungi, as well as information about their geographic distribution and host range. The book is significant because it provides the first thorough compilation of data about the Hypocreales in the Smokies and contains the only accurate guide for identifying them. Because many of these fungi have a much wider geographic distribution than the Smokies, this book will be used by agronomists, plant pathologists, foresters, ecologists, and other scientists to identify these fungi wherever they are encountered.

Technical Abstract: An illustrated guide to the members of the ascomycete order Hypocreales that are known to occur in the south-eastern states of the United States, including North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia is presented. Species were selected mainly based on records in the United States National Fungus Collections (BPI). These states surround the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The members of the Hypocreales are among the most numerous, and certainly most conspicuous of the microfungi. The order also includes some of the most economically important fungi. This guide is intended for individuals who are participating in All Taxa Biological Diversity studies of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as well as other interested professionals and amateurs. Short descriptions and color illustrations of ninety-eight species and two varieties in nineteen genera are provided. Keys to genera and species are included. The new combination Neonectria ditissima is proposed.