Roy Halling

There’s a New Fungus Amongst Us

Posted in Science on October 9 2012, by Roy Halling

This is an image of a mushroom that I have never seen on the NYBG campus as long as I’ve been here (around 28 years) and I am 99.9% sure it has never before been reported here.

There are several unrelated genera of mushrooms that seem to prefer growing on wood chip mulch as a substrate and seemingly have a global distribution. Right now after the recent rains, the mushrooms that favor this artificial habitat are in nearly every flower bed on campus.

The name of the mushroom is Leratiomyces ceres, described for the first time from Australia in 1888.

Roy E. Halling, PhD is the Curator of Mycology at the Institute of Systematic Botany at The New York Botanical Garden.

Morning Eye Candy: Of A Different Kingdom

Posted in Photography, Science on August 26 2011, by Roy Halling

Smith & Thiers described this mushroom, Boletus hortonii, honorifically for Charles Horton Peck, former New York State Botanist, who recognized the mushroom under a different name. It is a porcini in a very, very broad sense. I took the picture last week when it was fruiting at the Garden. It is widespread in the Northeast, though uncommon.

Boletus hortonii (photo by Roy Halling)

Roy E. Halling, PhD is Curator of Mycology at the Institute of Systematic Botany at The New York Botanical Garden.