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The International Code for Nomenclature is now online

Boris Assyov — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 09:51:16 +0000

The International Code for Nomenclature is now online

The International Code for Nomenclature of Algae, Fungi and Plants, also known as the Melbourne Code is now online. The Code governs the names of all fungi and it was impatiently awaited by mycologists as it introduces a number of important changes of the rules for nomenclature of fungi. On the first glance superficial, but in fact rather important is the mention of fungi yet in its title, as all older codes were named “International Code for Botanical Nomenclature”, thus diminishing the importance of fungi as a separate kingdom.

Here is the link to the online edition of the new Code:

http://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php

Bresadola’s Iconographia Mycologica now online

Boris Assyov — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:09:43 +0000

Bresadola’s Iconographia Mycologica now online

The magnificent work “Iconographia Mycologica” of the Italian mycologist Giacomo Bresadola is now accessible online. This historical series was for a very long time available only in larger libraries and difficult for mycologists to find. Thanks to the work of the Gruppo Micologico “G. Bresadola” the complete set of 26 volumes is now freely available for anyone to read online or download as PDF-files.

Here is the link for access: Iconographia Mycologica online.

Connecting to WAN Networks

Boris Assyov — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:19:40 +0000

Physical routers are necessary to connect to WAN Networks. The architecture builds on established infrastructure to produce a device that is inherently lean, reusable and scalable. In this implementation, the WANs are wired directly to data center nodes and therefore have zero configuration/deployment overhead. You can find more info here.

We’ve discussed in the past how to implement a scalable WAN infrastructure in Cisco routers. While those standard configurations work for basic corporate environments, networks managing continuous high-throughput transactional loads (such as backend server clusters for forex trading platforms and tether casinos) frequently demand strict traffic segmentation. Part of this lesson looks at how to extend the set of the available features in existing routers to include 802.1Q and the 802.1Q model of IEEE 802.15.4.

Implementing 802.1Q on Cisco Routers

You’ll need a Cisco router to implement 802.1Q, and with the right process this device can be straightforward to set up. Let’s look at one way of performing this configuration.

Use the admin mode on the router to change the following items:

Administrative name

Server name (IP)

Virtual server type (Managed/Wireless/Static)

Virtual server config parameters

Turn off the WAN Bridge service and turn off the WAN Bridge checkbox.

We’ll create an administrative domain (ID) based on the administrator’s Cisco Certified Access Point name, and we’ll give our domain a smaller name in order to better distinguish it from other managed/wireless/static router domains. The MAC addresses of your network equipment and routers should also be unique.

We’ll also create a WAN-specific ip address, which will have a 10.x.x.x subnet mask. The DHCP server is also off as it will be used to assign IP addresses to client devices, while also using resources as SD WAN for this, you can check more about these networks here.

IPDefaultAddress=”10.0.0.1″ #…

Now we’ll turn on WAN bridge for the WAN user.

EnableWANBridge=yes #…

You’ll see the following message appear in the DHCP server configuration dialog:

192.168.1.1:

Change the MAC address to the one in your router, and enter the new address in the Cisco WAN bridge interface config.

#cisco-edit-wlan-bridge MAC address MAC addr MAC=”addr”

When you are done creating the admin password, assign the administrative password to the device. To do this, use the Cisco WAN bridge wizard.

If you need more information about the WAN configuration, see Cisco WAN Bridge

Implementing 802.1Q on the managed/wireless infrastructure

Managed/wireless routers have existing firewall configuration and license rules to stop unauthorized access to the managed/wireless switch. The WAN bridge service performs similar functions in this scenario.

There are three important steps you’ll need to undertake to enable 802.1Q on managed/wireless routers.

Import a database from an R3 switch

This exercise requires that you open a port from R3 (virtual router) to the interface on the managed/wireless router. R3 might have firewall rules against incoming connections to the firewall, so you’ll need to use tools such as fiddler on either a Unix-like system, or portsnap to create a firewall rule to allow network traffic.

Recent paper tackling the Xerocomus subtomentosus complex

Boris Assyov — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:58:54 +0000

Recent paper tackling the Xerocomus subtomentosus complex

I have recently received one new paper dealing with the complex around Xerocomus subtomentosus, a rather difficult group, which still poses several taxonomic problems despite of the recent research which much clarified the main species in this aggregate. The paper is written by the Italian mycologist Matteo Gelardi and appeared in Bolletino dell’Associazione Micologica ed Ecologica Romana.

The paper focuses on a new British collection of Xerocomus silwoodensis, an entity of recent creation, which variability is yet little known and its distribution poorly understood. Gelardi’s publication provides very detailed description of the new collection and suggests that X. silwoodensis might be under-recorded and is possibly more widespread than currently known. The macro characters and the microscopic features of the new collection are illustrated, together with the rest of the species in X. subtomentosus complex.

In addition Gelardi provides a comprehensive comparison of the four species in the compex and a dichotomic key for identification. What especially turns reader’s attention is that Gelardi recognizes several colour forms in this complex, namely X. ferrugineus f. citrinovirens, X. subtomentosus f. luteolus and f. rubrotinctus, the first combination has never been validly published. I like this treatment as I have thought that such approach is necessary at least until more comprehensive knowledge is achieved on the variability in this group.

Below are the bibliographic details of the publication.
Gelardi, M. 2011. A noteworthy British collection of Xerocomus silwoodensis and a comparative overview on the European species of X. subtomentosus complex. – Bolletino dell’ Associazione Micologica ed Ecologica Romana 84: 28–38.

New genus of boletes was recorded from Europe

Boris Assyov — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:42:52 +0000

New genus of boletes was recorded from Europe

I am very excited to let you know that a new genus of Boletales has been found in Europe, namely Boletellus. The news was just brought to me by Mr M. Miksik, who has found the publication.

Technically the name Boletellus have already appeared for some time in the European mycological literature to name bolete species with striate spores, which we currently place in Xerocomus s. l.

Now a true member of Boletellus is found in Europe – Boletellus projectellus, which is known so far from North America and Asia. This remarkable bolete was found in Lithuania and its identity was confirmed by ITS analysis. The authors of the paper consider that the species is alien in Europe, but the way it came to our continent are still unresolved.

Boletellus projectellus is a remarkable species. It has smooth spores, which is a bit unusual in this genus. Its spores are also very large, much larger than in any known European species, ranging from 27 up to 36.5 μm, while in the other boletes in our continent the length never exceeds 21 μm.

I am currently preparing description of the species and I will try to get it uploaded as soon as I can.

Motiejūunaitė, J. Kasparavičius, J. & Kačergius, A. 2011. Boletellus projectellus – an alien mycorrhizal bolete new to Europe. – Sydowia 63: 203–213.

Electronic publishing of new names of fungi

Boris Assyov — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:08:08 +0000

Electronic publishing of new names of fungi

Summary of the important changes in the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi and Plants concerning electronic publication of new names, is now available on Open Access in Mycotaxon. Click here to read it.

Knapp, S., McNeill, J. & Turland, N. J. 2011. Fungal nomenclature. Changes to publication requirements made at the XVIII International Botanical Congress in Melbourne — what does e-publication mean for you? – Mycotaxon 117: 509–515.

New affordable paperback edition of Dictionary of the fungi

Boris Assyov — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:00:58 +0000

New affordable paperback edition of Dictionary of the fungi

The Dictionary of the fungi is indispensable edition for mycologists. I have been just alerted of its paperback reprint, which appeared this year and is cheaper alternative of the original hardback edition that appeared in 2008.

The book is now available also in our Bookstore (scroll down to the General Reference Books section)

Corner’s “Boletus in Malaysia” revisited

Boris Assyov — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 09:44:37 +0000

Corner’s “Boletus in Malaysia” revisited

Almost forty years have passed since E. J. H. Corner published his “Boletus in Malaysia”, one book which even nowadays remains an invaluable source for those studying the boletes in the tropics and the subtropics. After 1996 the mycologist Egon Horak undertook a revision of the Malayan bolete collections of the late Corner. Coping with old and often poorly preserved materials is a difficult and laborious task. The reexamination of authentic materials is however vital to justify the application of a name, a matter being of even greater importance in this case of a book that is still the primary guide to the boletes of this part of the world.

Horak’s study covers a total of 160 bolete taxa, grouped in three different categories, namely “Accepted species” (124 taxa), “Doubtful species” (22) and “Rejected, excluded or invalid species” (14). All taxa considered are keyed out in sets of dichotomous keys placed in the beginning of the each of the above three sections. In addition a key is provided to the boletoid species described by Patouillard & Baker from Singapore. As noted by the author himself, this is not really convenient, but a necessary subdivision considering the very heterogeneous results obtained by the revision.

The information set for each taxon includes its current name and nomenclator with its basionym and synonyms, supplemented by essential literature. Further on the information about the type material studied is listed followed by translation of the original description and by data on the ecology of the taxon. At the end the results of the revision of the studied material are summarized, presenting microscopic characters and author’s remarks. It would have been probably useful if the measurements of the microscopic structures were supplied with information on the number of structures measured. The descriptive information is supplemented with quality illustrations of essential microscopic characters in the majority of the species.

The revision inevitably led the author to the reconsideration of many taxa. Corner recognized only four bolete genera, and the majority of the taxa were accommodated by him in Boletus s. l. This prompted E. Horak to propose a number of new combinations and new names; I counted a total of 80. Probably here is the place to say that an index of the new names and combinations somewhere at the end of the book would have been greatly appreciated, it would have been very convenient for indexing purposes; adding a fly-out is now a possible option. Along with the transfers, six new names (nomina nova) are also introduced by this revision, although it seems that the name Boletus (Xerocomus) microspermus Corner & E. Horak [sic!] may fall under art. 33.1 of the ICBN. There are some minor discrepancies, for example the new name Rubinoboletus globisporus Horak is listed in the index as “Rubinoboletus globisporus (Corner) Horak”.

I would like to congratulate both the author and the publisher for presenting this valuable book to the scientific community. It is concise and necessary supplement to Corner’s work and it will certainly serve boletologists in their effort to describe the bolete diversity. It is nowadays clear that the bolete mycota of this part of the world may give answers to the many questions in the bolete evolution and systematics. There might be little doubt that Horak’s work will stimulate further study of the boletes in Southeast Asia and the adjacent regions.

Bibliographic details:

Horak, E. 2011. Revision of Malaysian species of Boletales s. l. (Basidiomycota) describeb by E. J. H. Corner (1972, 1974). – Malayan Forest Records 51: 1–283; figs 1–127. Hardcover. ISBN 978-967-5221-55-2.

Piximetre 5.2, one handy program for measuring spores

Boris Assyov — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:43:17 +0000

Piximetre 5.2, one handy program for measuring spores

Measuring of the spores and other microscopic structures of fungi is always necessary, in order to reach identification. It is a laborious task when done on the microscope, but it is much easier when structures are measured on digital images by specialized software. I must admit that I am sometimes tired by the expensive and clumsy programs that come with professional microscopes. However there are several free and easy to use options. I have recently come across one nice program, which caught my eye. I would like to present it here. Here is my impression which I get from the quick testing of this suite.

Installation

The installation is fairly simple; you just download and run a small installer, which initiate the download and installation of the suite. Network connection will be necessary for that, but you can alternatively choose to download the entire installation package and manually start the process. The installation is absolutely automatic and the speed largely depends on your computer; it took some time on mine, but it was acceptable.

System requirements

Piximetre runs on both 32 and 64-bit machines. It requires Windows operating system and has impressive compatibility working under Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. I run mine on Windows XP. Framework NET 4.0 is needed, so you must have it preinstalled; the authors provide link in case you need to set it up.

Language support

Piximetre supports French and English (US). The working language is automatically set up during the installation following the working language of your PC. Of course it might be changed at any time later.

Working with Piximetre

Generally, I find using Piximetre fairly straightforward. I decided not to read the manual and test how user-friendly is its interface. I must say that I was not disappointed. If you have used other software for measuring objects, it is not difficult to get working with this one. Most of the steps and the options are self-explanatory and you gradually get a grip of the program.

Opening an image. You do this as expected by the button “Open”, conveniently placed in the upper left corner of the working pane. Alternatively you can use the elegant and easy “drag-and-drop”-option, simply dragging your file to the Piximetre-window.

Calibrating the image. This step largely depends on the images you are about to measure. If you are using captures from fixed-focus camera on your microscope, they will most probably contain the necessary information which together with the objective used will allow doing the calibration. Alternatively you set the calibration by drawing a line and pointing its length in chosen units (e. g. micrometers). A user friendly wizard leads you during the process.

Measuring spores. Measuring is also fairly easy. You draw a line over the object you would like to measure and the program automatically computes the length of the line and records the value. It is presumed that two measurements will be taken – length and width. Something that I find especially useful is that you get alerted when the line of the second measurement gets in the right position to the first one (see the caption below). The measurements appear on the tab “Formulateur” of the service window on top of the screen. Statistics of length, width and spore quotient are automatically computed while you measure. You get minimum and maximum values, confidence interval (68% or 95% as selected) and mean values. After measurements are done, the values might be exported in txt-file for storing and further use. The function “Export” from the context menu allows you also to export portion or the entire image as it stands on the screen, i. e. with all individual measurements graphically embedded. You can add other information (the computed statistics for example) into this image and you may change its size and compression.

Graphic presentation and comparisons. You may see graphical presentation of your measurements clicking on the tab “Comparateur” of the service window. Further on, you may compare several series of measurements e. g. by dragging and dropping data files onto the “Comparateur”.

Changing parameters. You can change several parameters of the program from the tab “Parameters” from the service window.

Help. You get help messages on several occasions and in some cases there is an “i”-button, giving more information. In addition, there is extensive user guide in French on the home page of the program.

Updates. Piximetre is updated regularly, once or twice a year. The program automatically checks for updates, but the update itself always require user’s confirmation.

Availability. Piximetre is free software, which you may obtain through its web-page.

Two interesting books on the Greek larger fungi

Boris Assyov — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 07:46:12 +0000

Two interesting books on the Greek larger fungi

I am happy to present to the readers two very nice books which I have received from their author Giorgos Konstantinidis. They are among the few such books on the Balkans and together with the purely scientific publications serve as a valuable source of information on the boletes of Greece. Those two books made me refresh my long forgotten Greek, one of the most interesting European languages to learn. If you’re tired of reading, you can relax on games such as 제왕카지노.

Giorgos Konstantinidis is an amateur mycologist, working in Greece. He is author of several books on the fungi in Greece and curator of the most comprehensive web-site for the Greek fungi – www.manitari.gr.

Mushrooms – a photographic guide to the collectors

This field guide impresses the reader from the very first glance. It is printed on high quality paper, the numerous photographs being excellently reproduced. The book is finished by the sturdy hardcover.

The book includes several introductory chapters, which lead the mushrooms enthusiasts through, giving them the necessary basic knowledge about the mushrooms – their morphology, biology and ecology. Yet here, I must say that this book is not intended only for mushroom eaters, but is a valuable book for those people who would like to get deeper in the mushrooms. As such, it has a detailed enough chapter which explains how mushrooms are collected and studied for scientific purposes. There is also a handy glossary and list of the names of the trees in Latin and Greek.

Further on, follow the descriptions of 450 species with many others described in comments with their essential distinguishing characters. Of course, there is some focus on genera with practical value, as for example Amanita and Agaricus, but the coverage is really impressive. There are many species that are very rarely seen illustrated in mycological books, for which I never knew that were found in Greece. There are many of them, but I may name Amanita boudieri, A. curtipes, A. ponderosa, Crepidotus cinnabarinus, Volvariella caesiotincta, etc.

Now let me say more about the boletes in this book. They are generously presented, there is no doubt. And what catches my eye from the same beginning that it described a number of rare boletes that are not mentioned in any known to me scientific work on the Greek boletes, e. g. Boletus aemilii, B. fragrans, B. permagnificus, B. pulchrotinctus, Boletus ichnusanus, Boletus roseoalbidus, Leccinum lepidum and Suillus bellinii.

As for all other species, there are detailed descriptions of the different bolete species, including gross morphology and microscopic features, as well as advice for the similar species and how to distinguish them. What I find especially valuable is the information about the distribution of the species in Greece.

The following species of boletes are present in the book:

Aureoboletus gentilis, Boletus aereus, B. appendiculatus, B. calopus, B. caucasicus, B. dupainii, B. edulis (and its f. albus as B. persoonii), B. fechtneri, B. fragrans, B. impolitus, B. legaliae, B. lupinus, B. luridiformis, B. luridus (var. luridus, var. rubriceps), B. permagnificus, B. pinophilus, B. pseudoregius, B. pulchrotinctus, B. pulverulentus, B. queletii, B. radicans, B. regius, B. reticulatus, B. rhodopurpureus, B. rhodoxanthus, B. satanas, B. spretus (as B. aemilii), B. subappendiculatus, Chalciporus amarellus, C. piperatus, Chroogomphus rutilus, Gomphidius glutinosus, Gyrodon lividus, Gyroporus castaneus, G. cyanescens, Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, Leccinum albostipitatum (as L. aurantiacum), L. crocipodium, L. duriusculum, L. lepidum, L. pseudoscabrum, L. scabrum, Omphalotus olearius, Paxillus involutus, P. rubicundulus, Phylloporus pelletieri, Porphyrellus porphyrosporus, Strobilomyces strobilaceus, Suillus bellinii, S. bovinus, S. collinitus, S. granulatus, S. lakei, S. luteus, S. variegatus, Tapinella atrotomentosa, T. panuoides (var. panuoides, var. ionipus), Tylopilus felleus, Xerocomus badius (as Boletus), X. chrysenteron (as Boletus), X. declivitatus (as Boletus), X. ferrugineus (as Boletus), X. ichnusanus (as Boletus), X. moravicus (as Boletus), X. porosporus (as Boletus), X. pruinatus (as Boletus), X. roseoalbidus (as Rubinoboletus), X. rubellus (as Boletus), X. subtomentosus (as Boletus).

The vast majority of the remaining European species are described in comments by their distinguishing characters.

Bibliographic details:

Κωνσταντινίδης, Γ. 2009. Μανιτάρια, φωτογραφικός οδηγός μανιταροσυλλέκτη. Αυτοέκδοση, Αθήνα. [Konstantinidis, G. 2009. Mushrooms, a photographic guide for collectors. Published by the author, Athens.] ISBN 978-960-93-1450-3

Mushrooms – a pocket guide

Excellent name for this nice book, which is indeed very suitable for putting in your pocket as it is only 13 by 9 centimeters. Despite of its small size, it contains a lot of information – totally 240 species are described in it and the size certainly cannot talk about the quality. There is a good number of boletes, which urges me to present it here.

Here is a list of the included boletes and bolete allies:

Boletus aereus, B. calopus, B. depilatus, B. dupainii, B. edulis, B. impolitus, B. legaliae, B. lupinus, B. luridiformis, B. luridus, B. permagnificus, B. pinophilus, B. pseudoregius, B. pulchrotinctus, B. pulverulentus, B. queletii, B. radicans, B. regius, B. reticulatus, B. rhodopurpureus, B. rhodoxanthus, B. satanas, C. piperatus, Chroogomphus rutilus, Gomphidius glutinosus, G. roseus, Gyroporus castaneus, G. cyanescens, Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, Leccinum albostipitatum (as L. aurantiacum), L. crocipodium, L. pseudoscabrum, Omphalotus olearius, Paxillus involutus, P. rubicundulus, Porphyrellus porphyrosporus, Strobilomyces strobilaceus, S. bovinus, S. luteus, S. variegatus, Tylopilus felleus, X. chrysenteron (as Boletus), X. moravicus (as Boletus), X. roseoalbidus (as Rubinoboletus), X. rubellus (as Boletus), X. subtomentosus (as Boletus).

Other species of boletes are included in comments.

Bibliographic details:

Κωνσταντινίδης, Γ. 2009. Μανιτάρια, οδηγός τσέπης. Αυτοέκδοση, Αθήνα. [Konstantinidis, G. 2009. Mushrooms, a photographic guide for collectors. Published by the author, Athens.] ISBN 978-960-93-2158-7

Finally, if you are literature maniac like me, you will certainly like to have those two handy books.

Contact of the author: info@manitari.gr