National Herbarium of Mexico Fungal Collection (Hongos del Herbario Nacional de México) (IBUNAM-MEXU:FU)

With more than 1.3 million specimens, the National Herbarium of Mexico (MEXU) houses the most important collection of Mexican plants. It is the largest herbarium in Mexico and Latin America, and is one of the ten most active herbaria in the world. This collection is the cumulative work of many generations of both Mexican and foreign botanists and explorers, having been created in the late 19th century with the founding of the National Medical Institute in 1888, and tasked with consolidating knowledge about natural resources. It was acquired by the National University of Mexico (UNAM) in 1929 through the Biology Institute (Instituto de Biologia, IB). The fungal collection was started in 1947 by Drs. Manuel Ruíz-Oronoz and Teófilo Herrera. It currently contains more than 22,000 specimens, representing about 400 genera and 1,500 species of basidiomycetes, ascomycetes and myxomycetes, organized taxonomically. In addition to Mexico City, the states of Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Morelos, Puebla, Oaxaca, Sonora and Veracruz are especially well represented, with an emphasis on specimens collected in temperate forests, high-altitude perennial forests, and low deciduous forest. The fungarium is strong in collections by Manuel Ruíz-Oronoz, Teófilo Herrera, Evangelina Pérez-Silva and Rafael Hernández. It also includes a collection of phytopathogens, started by Dr. Martha Zenteno in 1958. It comprises over 2,000 specimens from over 300 species of fungi.
Contacts: M. en C. Elvira Aguirre-Acosta, Curator, caguirre@ib.unam.mx
Collection Type: Preserved Specimens
Management: Data snapshot of local collection database
Last Update: 11 March 2019
Digital Metadata: EML File
Collection Statistics
  • 12,472 specimen records
  • 122 (0.98%) georeferenced
  • 7,106 (57%) identified to species
  • 109 families
  • 323 genera
  • 923 species
  • 962 total taxa (including subsp. and var.)
Extra Statistics