Fungarium: Welcome to the Museum

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The Fungarium was founded in 1879 with the donation of Rev Miles J Berkeley’s personal collection of around 30,000 specimens (including 6,000 type specimens). Nota Bene: This book is part of the outstanding Welcome to the Museum Series, which are uniformly excellent. There are quite a few, some of which include: Planetarium, Dinosaurium, Botanicum, Historium, and Animalium. There are samples of fungi from all seven continents, spanning the entire fungal tree of life and representing well over half of known global diversity. So far, Emily and James have been well-introduced to the intricacies of the Fungarium’s archive and reference system. They are trained on the camera station within the Fungarium

Who isn't excited about fungus? Unfortunately too many people, which is why I am so pleased that this book exists. A favourite Christmas present, this has left be with the New Year's resolution of becoming the best amateur mycologist I can be - something I had forgotten mattered to me so much despite a favourite series of unfortunate events book being The Grim Grotto (no spoilers on that one here - that is for another time). Extracts of turkey tail have been used as mainstream cancer treatments since the 1970s in Japan and 1980s in China. “Turkey tail is an immune system regulator,” says Baxter. “It’s very good for lung cancers and a lot of different cancers.” When I first saw this book (and the others from the same series) at the bookstore, I thought it was meant for young kids; so I was elated when I found out that these are aimed to an adult public as well. I'm always happy when I find an adult picture book - plus, I am a huge mushroom nerd. I wanted to make sure that this was not a cover-buy or, in general, that I wasn't just buying this because it looks good (which it does, o so much), so I decided to read the kindle version first. And, well, I didn't really like it. Veteran broadcaster Sheila Dillon, who was diagnosed with cancer of the bone marrow in 2011, shared some personal information while presenting a recent episode of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme. She began taking mushroom supplements after discovering that patients in Japan were given them to help deal with the effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and that there was, she told listeners, “a good deal of evidence” that they did. The last time she saw her oncologist, he told her she was “in danger of becoming a super-responder”.Holding over 1.25 million dried specimens, Kew’s Fungarium collection is the largest, one of the oldest and most scientifically important, in the world. Numerous other bequests and donations over the years have greatly enhanced the collection, alongside many specimens collected by Kew staff from all corners of the globe. Chaga, which grows on birch trees and resembles burnt charcoal, prevents wrinkles, helps counter IBD and fights bacterial and viral infections, according to some of those that sell it. Cordyceps militaris, the “zombie fungus” that inspired the HBO series The Last of Us, is reported to improve exercise performance, act as an antidepressant and boost female libido. In none of these cases however, are such claims supported by well-designed clinical trials. Los humanos vivimos en una eterna relación de amor-odio con ellos. Gracias a ellos tenemos productos como el café, chocolate, quesos, bebidas fermentadas, vinagre y entre una larga lista de productos. Gracias a ellos la madera y las hojas muertas se degradan. Nuestro correcto funcionamiento del sistema digestivo depende de muchos de ellos y lo que es más, por el lado de la farmacéutica les estamos tremendamente agradecidos puesto que algunos de los medicamentos más importantes que tenemos provienen de ellos y siguen estudiándose para encontrar otros nuevos. Por el otro lado, luchamos para evitar que maten los cultivos, que echen a perder nuestra comida o que sencillamente muramos envenenados por ellos.

A digitised collection can be accessed online for free by researchers from anywhere in the world. It helps make research more efficient by sharing our knowledge with as many people as possible.Fungarium is aimed at adult visitors at Kew and joins the imprint’s “flagship” Welcome to the Museum series, which has sold nearly one million copies worldwide in 28 languages. What you learn about fungi is incredibly fascinating. For example, of the estimated 2.2 to 3.8 million different species of fungi on Earth, fewer than 5 percent have been identified! They are so diverse, and full of surprises. A lichen, for example, is actually made up of two different organisms functioning as a single, stable unit: a fungus, and an alga or cyanobacterium, which is it's source of food. Sort of like mating with a grocery store owner. Pretty clever! Hay en el mundo de los hongos un verdadero apartado de terror. Los hongos no solo pueden infectar o enfermar a otros organismos, como los insectos, sino que en algunas ocasiones pueden liberar sustancias químicas capaces de manipular el cerebro de ellos y tomar el control de su cuerpo al más parecido estilo "zombi". The specimens in our Fungarium can help us to describe unknown species; understand the distribution of fungi and plant-fungus interactions; identify pathogens that could threaten crops; distinguish the spread and effect of invasive species; and analyse the impact of climate change. We can also extract DNA from specimens to find useful traits or to discover new medicines. BBC Radio 4 presenter Sheila Dillon recently revealed she has taken mushroom supplements after her cancer treatment. Photograph: BBC