Fungi

The Laccate Ganoderma of the Southeastern United States: A Cosmopolitan and Important Genus of Wood Decay Fungi

Andrew Loyd, Ph.D, Jason A. Smith, Brantlee S. Richter, Robert A. Blanchette, and Matthew E. Smith

Geosmithia Species in Florida: Common Fungal Symbionts of Wood-Boring Bark Beetles

Yin-Tse Huang and Jiri Hulcr

The Punky Wood Ambrosia Beetle and Fungus in Florida That Cause Wood Rot: Ambrosiodmus minor and Flavodon subulatus

Demian F. Gomez and Jiri Hulcr

The Plant-Growth-Promoting Fungus, Mortierella elongata: Its Biology, Ecological Distribution, and Activities Promoting Plant Growth

Hui-Ling Liao

A UF/IFAS numbered peer reviewed Fact Sheet. Published by Plant Systems

A Preliminary Survey of Mycotoxins Identified from Florida Bahiagrass Pastures

Hui-Ling (Sunny) Liao, Ko-Hsuan Chen, Florencia Marcon, Robert (Robbie) Jones, Brittany Justesen, Joseph Walter, Ann Blount, Cheryl Mackowiak, Doug Mayo, and Marcelo Wallau

The beef cattle ranchers in Florida reported some health issues related to cattle grazing on warm-season grass pastures, such as bahiagrass and bermudagrass. The illness was not attributable to nutritional imbalances, or other possible causes. The focus then turned to what the animals were consuming, and forages were implicated. In general, the forages in Florida are just fine, however, sometimes under certain circumstances the fungi that live in our forages may produce “secondary metabolites”. All the forage harbor fungi. Some fungi are good in that they aid our forages to grow better, helping to mine nutrients from the soil or atmosphere. Sometimes they are not so good, like when high levels of ergotized seed occur in the seed heads of bahiagrass.

A Basic Guide to Mushrooms Commonly Encountered in Potted Plants in Florida

Elena Karlsen-Ayala, Romina Gazis, and Matthew E. Smith

Mushrooms growing in potting soil are a common problem reported in nursery production and in potted plants in the indoor and outdoor home landscape. Many of these fungi are saprotrophic and feed on the organic matter contained in the potting soil itself and/or in the mulch, which varies in composition but often contains tree bark, wood chips, pine straw, moss, or leaves. These fungi are not necessarily harmful to the plants, but fungal fruiting bodies can make plants unmarketable. Unknown fungi can also be concerning to retailers and homeowners because of potential toxicity to pets and children. The purpose of this publication is to provide homeowners and retail nursery growers with an overview of some of the most common mushroom-forming fungi found in potted plants and potting soils in Florida. We also provide cultural control recommendations to help prevent or reduce mushroom growth.