Expert stumbles on new species

A leading fungi expert has accidentally stumbled upon a new species - as he walked home from work.

Many new species of fungus could be in the UK

Dr Andy Taylor, from Aberdeen’s Macaulay Institute, noticed the Xerocomus bubalinus growing near a lime tree in the city’s Albyn Place. This very rare fungus was only described for the first time in 1991 in the Netherlands, and has not previously been recorded before in Scotland.

Dr Taylor said: “I couldn’t quite believe it that I had found this species, which isn’t supposed to occur here in Scotland, and that it was living right here under our noses.”

As well as his city centre find, Dr Taylor - a mycologist - also recently discovered a species (Russula vinososordida ) not found in the UK before, and another very rare species (Buchwaldoboletus lignicola) in the very grounds of the Macaulay Institute where he works.

“It is likely that there are many more undiscovered species right under our noses,” comments Dr Taylor, who whilst in Berkshire last year found and subsequently named a previously unknown fungal species, which is now considered so important by scientists that it is listed in the global top ten of all newly discovered species.

“The main reason for my amazing finds is that there are so few people in the UK with the necessary identification skills to be able to spot these species. There are hardly any professional mycologists with the necessary skills left in the UK, unlike many other European countries. Put simply, we just don’t know what, or how many, species of fungi we have here.

“It is also true that some of these species may have recently arrived here from abroad as accidental introductions on imported trees, or they have spread as a result of climate change.”

Dr Taylor hopes to improve the understanding of Scottish fungi by carrying out large scale recording surveys using state of the art technologies, and by providing expertise to identify rare or difficult species.