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SEPTEMBER 2003
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18/09/2005
Author: Shelley Evans
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Recommended English Names for Fungi in the UK
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LIST available here
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• Fungi belong in their own Kingdom separate from animals and plants. They are of fundamental global importance to the functioning and health of all terrestrial ecosystems and without them we simply could not exist. They are vital to life on Earth.
• In the UK we have an estimated 12,000 species of fungi, many of them producing large and attractively coloured fruit bodies. Yet the vast majority are known only by their scientific name. Lengthy mouthfuls of Latin can be off-putting and difficult to remember for many, so press and publishers have tended to invent their own English names, new ones for each publication - causing considerable confusion.
• The British Mycological Society (BMS) first addressed this situation back in the 1960’s with the production of a list of 200 English names for fungi, over 50% of which are still in use today. The object of this new list of recommended names is to update and expand this original work to include approximately 1,000 of the most commonly recorded UK fungi. The list includes edible and poisonous species, as well as rare species of conservation concern.
• The new list also has the support of all the UK non-governmental agencies: English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, The Countryside Council for Wales and the Environment and Heritage Service Northern Ireland, as well as the plant conservation charity, Plantlife International.
• ‘The recommended list of English names for fungi’ will clarify the situation and help give fungi the popular, accessible identity they deserve. It includes many names already in popular use, selecting the most appropriate where several existed, and creating a further 400 or so memorable new names for those with only a scientific name.
• The list of names can be used by everyone, whether teaching or publishing or presenting, to make fungi more fun. However we recommend that the English name always be accompanied by the scientific Latin name in all published material.
Click on the hyperlink below to download a PDF-file version of the list.
This list was compiled by E. M. Holden and funded by the British Mycological Society, together with English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and Plantlife International. It also has the support of The Countryside Council for Wales and the Environment and Heritage Service Northern Ireland.
Further information on criteria used to develop this list or on any conservation issues can be obtained from the BMS Conservation Officer - use the hyperlink below to contact her directly.
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 PDF File: List of recommended English names
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 Email: Contact Conservation Officer
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