FUNGI OF PAKISTAN

Dr. R. R. Stewart (1890-1993) (Father of Flora of Pakistan)
Obituary: Published in Pakistan Journal of Botany (1994) by S. I. Ali & A. Ghaffar

Dr. Ralph Randles Stewart died on 6th November, 1993 at the age of 103 years at Duarte, Calif., USA. May God Almighty shower His blessings upon the departed soul and may his soul rest in peace in heaven. Amen. Dr. Ralph Randles Stewart was born on 15th April 1890 and grew up at Manhattan Island, New York city, USA. He obtained his Ph.D. degree (1916) from Columbia University, New York; D.Sc. Honorary (1953) from the University of the Punjab, Lahore and LLD Honorary (1963) from Alma College, Michigan, USA. On a call from the UP Church, India, Dr. Stewart joined the Gordon College, Rawalpindi in 1911 to teach elementary Botany and Zoology to pre-medical students. He served as Professor in Botany (1917-1960) and Principal Gordon College, Rawalpindi (1934-1954). Since at that time the flora of India and Western Himalayas was not well known, Dr. Stewart therefore embarked on collection trips, often going on his pushbike, and went as far as the capital of Kashmir and then crossed into Western Tibet on foot. He continued to collect plants every summer (1912-1959) without any financial support from anyone. In 1960, when Dr. Stewart retired at the age of 70 years, he gave his collection of over 50 thousand plant specimens, now called the Stewart Collection, to Professor E. Nasir at Gordon College, Rawalpindi. The Stewart Collection has now been deposited in the National Herbarium of the Government of Pakistan at Islamabad thus leaving a very rich heritage for the students of plant sciences. Dr. Stewart moved to USA and worked as Research Associate (1960-1982) at the Herbarium of the Michigan University with over 30,000 plant specimens collected from India, Kashmir, Iran etc.
Dr. Stewart is one of the few persons who has served Pakistan throughout his active life. In recognition of his services to educational and botanical work, Dr. Stewart was awarded Kaiser-e-Hind (Emperor of India) gold medal 1938, Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Distinction) 1961, Member American Association for Advancement of Sciences 1984, foreign member Pakistan Academy of Sciences 1983.
Dr. Stewart has remained as the real stalwart of systematic botany in Pakistan having spent more than 50 years in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. Dr. Stewart has made comprehensive reports on the Flora of N. W. Himalayas, Western Tibet, Kashmir, Kurram Valley, Flora of Balochistan and Grasses of West Pakistan. Apart from collecting flowering plants, Dr. Stewart also made a scientific contribution in the collection of mosses, plant disease specimens like rusts, smuts and fleshy fungi which have since been published in Mycologia by Dr. Arthur and Dr. Cummins of Purdue University. One of his most important contributions "An Annotated Catalogue pf Vascular Plants of Pakistan and Kashmir (1972)" serves as the basis of writing the Flora of Pakistan edited by E. Nasir and S.I. Ali (1970-1988), S. I. Ali and Y. J. Nasir (1989-1991) and S. I. Ali and M. Qaiser (1992-).
Dr. Stewart again came to Pakistan in 1990 to attend and make a presentation at he International symposium on Plant life of South Asia. The symposium was organized at the Department of Botany, University of Karachi, to commemorate the Centenary of Dr. Stewart. The participation of Dr. Stewart at the symposium is indicative of his interest of plant sciences and specially his love for Pakistan.
Dr. Stewart had two daughters Jean Macmillan Stewart Andrews (1919-1970) born at sialkot and Ellen Reid Stewart Daniels (1921-) born at Jhelum, 6 grand children and 6 great children. Besides, Dr. Stewart has left behind a large number of Plant Taxonomist in different parts of the world to mourn the loss.

A New Species of Genus Aspicilia (Megasporaceae, Ascomycota)
from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Aspicilia nigromaculata Fayyaz, Afshan, Niazi & Khalid sp. nov.

Fayyaz, I., Niazi, A. R., & Khalid, A. N. (2022). Aspicilia nigromaculata sp. nov.(Megasporaceae, Pertusariales, Ascomycota) from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, evidence from morphology and DNA sequencing data. Botanica Serbica, 46(1), 105-111.

https://doi.org/10.2298/BOTSERB2201105F
https://doiserbia.nb.rs/Article.aspx?ID=1821-21582201105F

Not only one but 2 different covers! After more than 130 years of history, fungi have taken over the latest issue of Magazine 🍄✊🏾 Morels for a subscribers and mushroom for newsstands.

The edition includes an article titled “Why ‘funga’ is just as important as flora and fauna” and explores a “growing movement to study and protect our fungal neighbors that may define our intertwined futures.”

NatGeo magazine revealed the covers yesterday, alongside including fungi into their definition of “wildlife,” and de
claring mycology an area of interest for grant-making worldwide. In addition, the short film “Flora, Fauna, Funga,” was officially released and it’s now available on YouTube.

Find the articles and the short film see the link in our profile.

Photo by Agorastos Papatsanis / National Geographic

A new species of Mushroom, Limacella from Pakistan
https://doi.org/10.55730/1300-008X.2687

Limacella subtropicana A. Izhar, Niazi, M. Asif, Haqnawaz, H. Bashir, & Khalid, sp. nov.
https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/botany/vol46/iss3/6/

Reference: Izhar, A., Niazi, A.R., Asif, M., Haqnawaz, M., Bashir, H., & Khalid, A. N. (2022). Limacella subtropicana (Amanitaceae, Agaricales), a new species from Pakistan based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidences. Turkish Journal of Botany, 46(3), 271-281.

A new species of Mushroom, Inocybe from Pakistan
https://doi.org/10.21608/mb.2022.109930.1047

Inocybe quercicola A. Naseer, M.B. Khan & F. Aqdus sp nov
https://mb.journals.ekb.eg/article_220372.html

Reference: Khan, M. B., Naseer, A., Aqdus, F., Ishaq, M., Fiaz, M., & Khalid, A. N. (2022). Inocybe quercicola sp. nov.(Agaricales, Inocybaceae), from Pakistan. Microbial Biosystems, 6(2), 22-29.

A new species of Mushroom, Moniliophthora from Pakistan
https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.538.3.3

Moniliophthora pakistanica A. Izhar, M. Asif, Niazi & Khalid sp. nov.
https://www.biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.538.3.3

Reference: Izhar, A., Asif, M., Niazi, A. R., & Khalid, A. N. (2022). A new crinipelloid species (Marasmiaceae, Agaricales) from Pakistan. Phytotaxa, 538(3), 197-212.

A new species of Lichen, Gyalolechia from Pakistan
https://doi.org/10.1127/nova_hedwigia/2022/0667

Gyalolechia pakistanica S. Nadeem, Niazi, K. Habib & Khalid, sp. nov.
https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/nova_hedwigia/detail/114/100752/A_new_species_of_Gyalolechia_Teloschistaceae_lichen_forming_Ascomycota_from_Pakistan

Reference: Nadeem, S., Niazi, A. R., Habib, K., & Khalid, A. N. (2022). A new species of Gyalolechia (Teloschistaceae, lichen-forming Ascomycota) from Pakistan. Nova Hedwigia, 237-249.

A new species of Mushroom, Veloporphyrellus from Pakistan
https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.03178

Veloporphyrellus latisporus J. Khan & S. Ullah sp. nov.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/njb.03178

Reference: Khan, J., Ullah, S., Sher, H., Fiaz, M., & Khalid, A. N. (2021). Veloporphyrellus latisporus (Boletaceae), a new species from moist temperate forests of Pakistan. Nordic Journal of Botany, 39(9).