JAMES FOWLER
James Fowler was the earliest person to systematically catalog the fungi of New Brunswick. Trained as a Presbyterian minister he began a long sideline and finally career as a botanist. Most of his published work concerns vascular plants and bryophytes, but in 1879 he also provided a list of fungi. Most of these records are not backed by herbarium specimens, but a few remain in the herbaria at Acadia University (ACAD), the New York Botanical Garden (NY), Purdue University (PUR), the United States National Fungus Collections (BPI) and the University of Wisconsin (WIS). Nearly all of these collections are from Bass River, a village about 25 km southwest of Richibucto, where he was minister of the Presbyterian church. Most of these collections are not fleshy basidiomycetes, but four in WIS (Armillaria mellea, Lycoperdon pyriforme, Plicaturopsis crispa and Xeromphalina campanella), can be included on our checklist. Several other species reported by Fowler are ones that are known to occur in New Brunswick and also appear on the checklist
Fowler presented his list in at least two publications:
Fowler, J. 1879. List of New Brunswick Plants. App. B, Ann. Rep. Secr. Agr. NB, 1878. Saint John, NB
Fowler, J. 1879. List of New Brunswick Plants. The Educational Circular, NB Dept. Edu. 9:65-67. Fredericton, NB.
Because Fowlers list of fungi was not very long I have decided to list here everything, whether fleshy basidiomycete or not. The names in use in Fowler's time often differ greatly from the ones we use today. The list below is according to the names Fowler used, followed by the name in current use.
| FLOWLER NAME | CURRENT NAME | VOUCHER | ON NB CHECKLIST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agaricus campanella | Xeromphalina campanella | WIS | Y |
| Agaricus prunulus | Clitopilus prunulus | No | Y |
| Agaricus melleus | Armillaria mellea | WIS | Y |
| Agaricus muscarius | Amanita muscaria | No | Y |
| Cantharellus crispus | Plicaturopsis crispa | WIS | Y |
| Cenangium pinastri | Tryblidiopsis pinastri | No | N |
| Dacrymyces stillatus | Dacrymyces stillatus | No | N |
| Daedalea confragosa | Daedaleopsis confragosa | No | N |
| Daedalea unicolor | Cerrena unicolor | No | N |
| Dothidea graminis | Phyllachora graminis | No | N |
| Dothidea trifolii | Polythrincium trifolii | No | N |
| Ergotaetia abortifaciens | Claviceps purpurea | No | N |
| Erineum fagineum1 | Eriophyid mite | No | N |
| Erineum luteolum1 | Eriophyid mite | No | N |
| Erineum roseum1 | Eriophyid mite | No | N |
| Exidia auricula-judae | Auricularia auricula-judae | WIS | N |
| Exidia glandulosa | Exidia glandulosa | No | N |
| Hypocrea richardsonii | Hypocrea richardsonii | No | N |
| Hypoxylon concentricum | Daldinia concentrica | No | N |
| Hypoxylon fragiforme | Hypoxylon fragiforme | No | N |
| Hypoxylon fuscum | Hypoxylon fuscum | No | N |
| Hysterium pulicare | Hysterium pulicare | No | N |
| Irpex lacteus | Irpex lacteus | NY | N |
| Irpex tulipiferae | Irpex lacteus | No | N |
| Lenzites sepiaria | Gloeophyllum sepiarium | WIS | N |
| Lycogala epidendrum2 | Lycogala epidendrum | No | N |
| Lycoperdon giganteum | Calvatia gigantea | WIS | Y |
| Lycoperdon pyriforme | Lycoperdon pyriforme | WIS | Y |
| Nectria cinnabarina | Nectria cinnabarina | No | N |
| Panus stypticus | Panellus stipticus | No | Y |
| Peziza furfuracea | Encoelia furfuracea | No | N |
| Peziza scutellata | Scutellinia scutellata | No | N |
| Peziza vulcanalis | Geopyxis vulcanalis | No | N |
| Plicatura alni | Plicatura nivea | No | Y |
| Polyporus abietinus | Trichaptum abietinum | WIS | N |
| Polyporus cinnabarinus | Trichaptum abietinum | No | N |
| Polyporus elongatus | Trichaptum biforme | WIS | N |
| Polyporus ferruginosus | Fuscoporia ferruginosa | No | N |
| Polyporus hirsutus | Trametes hirsuta | WIS | N |
| Polyporus nigropurpurascens | Gelatoporia dichroa | No | N |
| Polyporus scutellatus | Datroniella scutellata | No | N |
| Polyporus versicolor | Trametes versicolor | No | N |
| Rhytisma solidaginis2 | Rhytisma solidaginis | No | N |
| Schizophyllum commune | Schizophyllum commune | No | N |
| Sphaeria morbosa | Apiosporina morbosa | No | N |
| Sphaeria ulmea | Stegophora ulmea | No | N |
| Stereum rugosum | Stereum rugosum | No | N |
| Stereum rubiginosum | Hymenochaete rubiginosa | No | N |
| Tremella foliacea | Tremella foliacea | No | N |
| Tremella mesenterica | Tremella mesenterica | No | N |
| Ustilago segetum | Ustilago avenae | No | N |
| Ustilago urceolorum | Cintractia caricis | BPI | N |
| Uromyces limonii | Uromyces limonii-caroliniani | BPI, PUR | N |
| Xylaria digitata | Xylaria digitata | No | N |
1 The genus Erineum was used in the older literature for felt-like and often highly coloured patches on living leaves of trees, orginally thought to be caused by fungi. These are now known to be the galls of Eriophyid mites and are often called "erineum galls". The bright red erineum galls on maples in our area are very conspicuous and are frequently mistaken for fungi.
2 Lycogala epidendrum is a myxomycete, or plasmodial slime mould, and is in its own kingdom, not even closely related to the fungi. In spite of their non-fungal heritage slime moulds have been traditionally studied by mycologists.
3 The black oval structures commonly seen on leaves of goldenrod are the result of the mutualism between a minute fly, Asteromyia carbonifera and a fungus Macrophoma sp. While laying its eggs on the goldenrod leaf the fly also deposits spores of the fungus. The fungus grows out, and in combination with the plant tissues forms the hard black galls. The larvae of the flies develop on the underside of the galls. These galls were once thought to be parasitic fungi and were assigned to the genus Rhytisma.