Chinese scientists rediscover lost fungus

A fungus described only once 164 years ago has been rediscovered by Chinese scientists in southwest China.

The fungus, known as pleurotus placentodes, which was originally described by British botanist M.J. Berkeley in 1852 and known only from one specimen he collected, has been found in the eastern Himalayas and Hengduan Mountains.

"The original and the only specimen [holotype] is now in very poor condition," said Yang Zhuliang, a researcher with Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. "The new specimen can be used to identify the species as the original specimen degrades."

The fungus is hard to find because it grows only at high altitude from June to September, during rain season, Yang said.

The findings were published on the botanic journal Phytotaxa earlier this month. Endi