Myxomycetes Recorded from the Vicinity of the Mountain Lake Biological Station

Abstract

ABSTRACT Myxomycetes (plasmodial slime molds or myxogastrids) have been collected in the Mountain Lake area of southwestern Virginia since 1890, and several recognized authorities on this group of organisms along with numerous other individuals have visited or worked at the University of Virginia Mountain Lake Biological Station. The collective efforts of all these individuals have generated a considerable body of information on myxomycetes. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive annotated checklist of all species of myxomycetes reported from the Mountain Lake area. This checklist contains 166 species in 39 genera. This total is approximately 36% of the total number of species of myxomycetes known from all the eastern United States and is likely to be higher than the total recorded for any area of comparable size in the entire country and perhaps the entire world.