Epigeous and Hypogeous Pezizales of Western North America

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9400545 Weber In western North America the Pezizales Fungi, Ascomycotina) are represented by approximately 120 genera an perhaps as many as 450 species which include the morels and related cup-fungi (epigeous taxa) and truffles (hypogeous taxa). The order includes important mycorrhizal and saprophytic fungi; several are esculents of considerable economic value; a few are occasional serious plant pathogens. The western United States encompasses great geologic, topographic, climatic, and floristic diversity which is reflected in the apparent diversity of the Pezizales Therein occurring. This project is the first to attempt to survey and inventory the diversity of Pezizalean fungi for the region. Because no modern taxonomic treatment of this order is available for the Western united States (or any other region of North America) aids to identifying taxa (dichotomous and synoptic keys) and descriptions of known and newly discovered taxa will be prepared. Goals for field work include prospecting for additional diversity, new records, and clarifying distribution patterns of known taxa. An accession-based database is being compiled from the major sets of Pezizalean collections deposited in regional and national herbaria in the United States; additional records are being culled from published references. The existing collections provide the raw material for determining distributions, assessing diversity, and helping to identify areas were further field work is needed. Because of floristic ties with Europe, Asia, and other parts of North America, a treatment of western North America taxa will be useful throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere.