The Fungi, Lichens, and Myxomycetes of Iowa: A Literature Review and Evaluation

The fungi have been, and continue to be, a poorly documented portion of Iowa’s biological inheritance. Although many are perennially present in soil and plant debris and are crucially involved in the release and recycling of materials from organic residues or are partners with plant roots as mycorrhizae, they are not obvious until they produce fruiting structures such as mushrooms, boletes, brackets, puffballs, etc. The fungi causing plant disease are more obvious because of the reactions of their host plants; thus the earliest records of Iowa fungi are of ones causing plant diseases commonly referred to as mildews, rusts, and blights