Microfungi
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of over 500 microfungal specimens. Microfungi are organisms such as moulds, mildew, yeasts and rusts and are often associated with the decay or disease of plants. The distinction from ‘macrofungi’ is somewhat arbitrary. The term 'microfungi' here refers to fungi with only small fruiting bodies and is not a natural grouping. The specimens date from 1860 to 2005. Within the collection, the Strathclyde collection (GGO) comprises approximately 200 specimens and contains a few boxes of Ustilaginales, Uredinales, Phycomycetes and Fungi Imperfecti. The majority of the specimens come from the collecting of Rev. R Barr of Neilston, in the 1930s, and from R Hennedy in the 1860s. The University of Glasgow collection (GL) comprises some 580 small fungal samples, which derive from the early to mid 20th century. It is mainly associated with collecting by R B Johnstone and D A Boyd in the 1930s. Many of the specimens could be classed as microfungi, notably Puccinia spp., Fungi Imperfecti and ‘Phycomycetes’. An important part of the GL collection is the set of Elias Fries’ ‘Scleromyceti Sueciae’, containing 263 specimens in seven (out of an original nine) fascicles (bundles), which include various Pyrenomycetes and Sphaeriales. The Glasgow Museums civic collection (GLAM) has not been separated into micro or macro groups, but only a very few could be classed as microfungi.
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