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THE FUNGAL FLORA
Charles Peck was New York State Botanist from 1883 to 1915, largely
through the influence of Governor DeWitt Clinton's son George W. Clinton, a
member of the State Board of Regents (Both, 1984). Peck began to specialize
in the study of fungi after 1868, although he was responsible for other plant
groups as well (see section on bryology). Peck eventually became the leading
North American authority on fungi describing "some 2,000 new species, at
least half of which have stood the test of time, and he monographed over 40
genera or sections of genera as they occur in New York State" (Both
1984).
George Clinton collaborated with Peck as Clinton
explored western New York,
and they published new species and interesting reports together (e.g. Peck,
1873). Clinton enjoyed collecting on Goat
Island and the Three Sisters, throughout the Niagara Gorge and all of the
secluded Islands in the Niagara River, and so it is not surprising that many
of his collections were derived from these special areas (Clinton, unpubl. diary). Goat
Island, for example, was the type locality for Peziza hesperidea
published by Clinton and Peck ("Among fallen leaves. Goat
Island, where it was first found. Clinton," Peck, 1873), Puccinia
clintonii Peck ("Leaves of Pedicularis. Goat
Island. Clinton.
October, Peck, 1875), and Thelephora willeyi Clinton
("Goat Island").
In his journal, George Clinton first mentioned collecting fungi on Goat Island on June 1, 1865, where "from a stump,
a small lead colored fungus in the gills, & a larger one, perhaps the
same." Peck published a report of Polyporus ferruginosus
Fr., a fungus that Clinton found on
"prostrate trunks of trees" at Niagara Falls (Peck, 1873).
In a relatively undisturbed natural condition with a diversity of
habitats, as Goat Island was in the latter
half of the nineteenth century, there would be a variety of organisms of all
kinds and a diversity of associated and dependent or related fungal
organisms. Many fungi, for example such as parasitic vascular plants as
Squaw-root, Conopholis americana, which grow on oaks, are
host-specific, occurring in association with only one species host, or hosts
in a single genus or family of plants. Other specific organic substrates,
such as animal remains, support particular fungus species, such as Clinton's
1869 specimen from Goat Island of Oidium equina Pers., growing
"On a decaying horn" and perhaps indicative of carriage use on the
Island. Presumably this fungus was more frequently seen in the horse and
buggy era (cf. an accompanying specimen from Machias, New York,
growing on the "decaying hoofs of horses").
Such historic mycological specimens frequently yield otherwise
unobtainable floristic data, because the plant hosts were often noted on the
specimen label. The fungus species listed below, for example, with their
plant hosts, have been tabulated from George W. Clinton's mycological
collections at the Clinton Herbarium (BUF):
FUNGUS [Scientific name] AND ITS HOST [English
and Scientific Name]
Aecidium allenii
BUFFALOBERRY Shepherdia canadensis
(Second Sister)
Aecidium ranunculacearum
BANEBERRY Actaea sp.
Depazea cruenta
GREAT SOLOMON'S SEAL Polygonatum biflorum
Diatrype betulina
BIRCH Betula sp.
Microsphaeria peckii
ELDERBERRY Sambucus canadensis
Phyllactinia guttata
BITTERSWEET Celastrus scandens
Polyactis vulgaris
PRICKLY GOOSEBERRY Ribes cynosbati
Prosthemium sp.
ARBOR VITAE Thuja occidentalis
Puccinia violarum
DOWNY YELLOW VIOLET Viola pubescens
Puccinia clintonii
COMMON LOUSEWORT Pedicularis canadensis
Roestelia lacerata
SHADBUSH Amelanchier sp. (Three Sisters)
Roestelia cornuta
SHADBUSH Amelanchier sp.
Vermicularia dermatium
SWEET CICELY Osmorhiza claytonii
Vermicularia liliacearum
WILD LEEK Allium tricoccum
It is somewhat unfortunate that Charles Peck's contribution to the 1883 publication
of the "Plants of Buffalo and Vicinity" by David F. Day dealt
primarily with systematics and no plant localities were given, although most,
if not all were based on collections made in western New York by George
Clinton. Duplicates of the specimens on which Peck made his reports will be
in the State Herbarium, Albany,
and localities may be noted from their specimen labels.
Maintenance policies
throughout the past century which favor the removal of stumps, brush,
diseased tree and shrub material and other non-living organic substrates has
and will continue to impoverish the fungal flora on Goat Island and
throughout the Reservation. Such substrates also promote the establishment of
seedlings of many kinds of forest species, perhaps all of them, particularly
ferns (note the fern flora from Goat Island
has been eliminated). Mosses also favor rotted stumps and logs.
One interesting
observation based on recent collections is the occurrence of so many edible
species. The fungus flora of Goat Island could form the basis for an
interesting interpretive program on Goat Island
coupled with a change in maintenance policy toward enriching the flora.
Even reinstitution of
horse and carriage service onto the islands would provide additional
substrates for fungus species to colonize, with the additional benefit of the
enrichment of impoverished soils.
FUNGI: HISTORICAL SPECIMENS IN THE CLINTON HERBARIUM
Not determined
Goat Island, Dicentra
canadensis, not on Dicentra cucullaria [handwriting G.
W. Clinton] May 22, 1871 (BUF).
Aecidium allenii Clinton
Goat Island
[handwriting G. W. Clinton] June 28 [1880] (BUF).
Aecidium allenii Clinton
Goat Island (the
middle Sister), on Shepherdia canadensis [specimen included].
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. June 28, 1870 (BUF).
Aecidium allenii
Clinton, part of the type specimen and perhaps
related to the collections just cited, is curated in the Arthur Herbarium of Purdue University. The packet reads “”On
Shepherdia [‘canadensis’ written in pencil], Buffalo, N.Y. G. W. Clinton. The label is
hand written in apparently Clinton’s
handwriting. A packet curated next to the type has the same information, but
the locality is “Goat Island, Buffalo,
N.Y.” Goat Island is in Niagara Falls, Niagara
County, N.Y. and is probably an isotype. There are no
dates written in, hence the two BUF specimens need to be examined to verify
the year to determine whether these, too, are isotypes.
Another specimen of Aecidium
allenii at Purdue was made in 1885, the year the Niagara Reservation was
officially established, on June 29 by Clara E. Cummings, also on Shepherdia
canadensis on Goat Island, Niagara
[“N.Y.” written in pencil]. The Cummings specimen, according to the packet,
derived from the Herbarium of A. B. Seymour. Clinton died on September 7, 1885 and,
although perhaps collected at the type locality, and perhaps on the very
shrub, it is not part of the type specimen.
I am grateful to Nick Harby
of Purdue University Herbaria for digital images of the packets of these
specimens and drawing them to my attention.
Aecidium ranunculacearum DC.
Goat Island,
"probably Ae. cimicifugatum Schw.," on Actaea
[handwriting G. W. Clinton], July 4, 1871 (BUF).
Aecidium ranunculacearum DC.
Goat Island, a.
on Actaea [specimen included], b. Thalictrum cornuti
[specimen included]. Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
July 4, 1871 (BUF).
Agaricus atrocaeruleus Fr.
[Goat Island.] Pleurotus
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. June, 1870 (BUF).
Agaricus atrocaeruleus Fr.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Nov. 2, 1875 (BUF).
Agaricus bombycinus Schaeff.
Goat Island, decaying side of a living Acer
saccharinum on Goat Island, Volvaria.
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Aug. 17, 1874 (BUF).
Agaricus ostreatus Jacq. Goat Island, Pleurotus. Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
1870-1 (BUF).
Agaricus phalloides Fr.
Goat Island. Amanita.
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. 1871 (BUF).
Agaricus silvaticus Schaeff.
Goat Island, Psalliota.
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Oct., 1871 (BUF).
Cladosporium lignicolum Cd.
Goat Island. a.
On Oak ties. Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. June 15, 1877 (BUF).
Corticium oakesii B. et C.
Goat Island
[handwriting G. W. Clinton] March 2 [1871] (BUF).
Coryneum clavaesporum Peck
The Sister's Wood [presuming The Three Sisters
just S of Goat Island] [Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.] 4 Jan. 6. (BUF).
Cytispora sp.
Goat Island, on Acer
saccharinum. Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Oct. 7, 1876 (BUF).
Depazea cruenta Fr.
Goat Island, Polygonatum
biflorum [handwriting G. W. Clinton] Nov. 2 [1871] (BUF).
Diatrype betulina Peck
Goat Island [on Betula].
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. April, 1871 (BUF).
Diatrype disciformis Fr.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. April 24, 1870 (BUF).
Geaster saccatus Fr.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Sept., 1873 (BUF).
Helminthosporium episphaericum C.
et P.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Sept. 5, 1874 (BUF).
Hemiarcyria rubriformis Pers.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Sept., 1870 (BUF).
Hydnum septentrionale Fr.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton April 24, 1870 (BUF).
Hypocrea gelatinosa Fr.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Oct., 1873 (BUF).
[Hypocrea gelatinosa] Fr.
Goat Island, [no
name given, but on a sheet with other collections of this name] 20, April 18
(BUF).
Hypocrea patella C. et. P.
Goat Island,
[two specimens, one March 14, the other April 18 ?]. Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
(BUF).
Hypoxylon atropurpureum Fr.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Nov. 26, 1871 (BUF).
Hypoxylon atropurpureum Fr.
Goat Island. [Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y.] Oct. 1875 (BUF).
Lenzites sepiaria Fr.
Goat Island
[handwriting G. W. Clinton] Sept. 25 [1877] (BUF).
Leocarpus fragilis Dicks.
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Sept., 1870 (BUF).
Leucostoma persoonii (Nitsche)
Togashi
Second Sister, west end, in oak maple forest, on
dead Prunus, Buck, 16366 Nov. 2, 1988 (BUF).
Melanconium bicolor Nees
Goat Island
[handwriting G. W. Clinton] May 8 [1871] (BUF).
Merulius lacrymans
Goat Island
[handwriting G. W. Clinton] Nov. 5 [1871] (BUF).
Microsphaeria peckii Gerard.
Goat Island, on Sambucus canadensis,
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Nov. 1874 (BUF).
Nectria cinnabarina Tode
Goat Island, Acer
saccharum [handwriting G. W. Clinton] Oct.7(8) [1877] (BUF).
Oidium equina Pers.
Goat Island, on
a decaying horn, a. on decaying hoofs of horse, Machias, Oct. 23, 1875. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. 1869 (BUF).
Oidium fulvum Lk.
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Nov. 1873 (BUF).
Oidium megalosporum B. et C.
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Nov. 1871 (BUF).
Paxillus atrotomentosus Fr.
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
April 20, 1870 (BUF).
Peziza citrina Batsch.
Goat Island, Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton Jan, 1870 (BUF).
Peziza citrina Batsch.
Goat Island, No.
56. "This little beauty, found only in one stick, on Goat I" (BUF).
Peziza coccinea Jacq.
Goat Island [three specimens from here], a: April
1870, b: April 1871, c: June 28, 1871, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
April 1870 (BUF).
Peziza hesperidea P. et C.
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
June 28, 1871 (BUF). [Possible type specimen; possible lectotype]
Peziza tiliae Peck
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Nov. 26, 1871 (BUF).
Phyllactinia guttata Lev.
Goat Island, Celastrus
[handwriting G. W. Clinton] Oct. 13 [1880] (BUF).
Podosporium rigidum Schw.
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Dec. 18, 1877 (BUF).
Polyactis vulgaris Link.
"?"
Goat Island, On Ribes cynosbati, Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Nov., 1871 (BUF).
Polyporus abietinus Fr.
Goat
I. (Luna I.) [handwriting G. W.
Clinton] July 4 [1880] (BUF).
Polyporus salviae P. et C.
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Nov. 1870 (BUF). (Reported as new to New York State in 1874 by Charles Peck
based probably on a duplicate of this specimen.)
Prosthemium sp.
Goat Island. Thuja.
West side above the Three Sisters. [other notations occur on label, q.v.]
[handwriting G. W. Clinton] July 4, 1874 (BUF).
Prosthemium sp.
Goat Island, on Thuja occidentalis,
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. July 4, 1874 (BUF).
Puccinia clintonii Peck
Goat Island, Pedicularis
canadensis [handwriting G. W. Clinton] Nov. 4 [1880] (BUF).
Puccinia clintonii Peck
Goat Island, Pedicularis
canadensis [handwriting G. W. Clinton] Oct. 9, 1875 (BUF).
Puccinia clintonii Peck
Goat Island, On Pedicularis canadensis,
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y., Nov. 4, 1874 (BUF).
[Perhaps a type: "Leaves of Pedicularis. Goat
Island. Clinton.
October, in Peck, 1875."]
Puccinia clintonii
Peck
There is a Puccinia
clintonii Peck type specimen also, as the Aecidium allenii
specimen cited above, curated in the Arthur Herbarium of Purdue University.
The packet reads “On Pedicularis canadensis. Goat Island, Niagara, N. Y. G. W. Clinton. Oct.” which would
indicate that the specimen collected on October 9, 1875 noted above is
perhaps the holotype specimen for the species, and the specimen at Purdue is
an isotype (or they are all isotypes). . I am grateful to Nick Harby of Purdue University Herbaria for
digital images of the packets of these specimens and drawing them to my
attention.
Puccinia violarum Lk.
Goat Island,
[specimen enclosed], on Viola pubescens. "The yellowish
dots are Trichobasis violarum Berk. but are only the early
state of the Puccinia" Peck. Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
July 4, 1871 Aug. 12, 1875 (BUF).
Roestelia cornuta Tul.
Goat Island, on Amelanchier [specimen
enclosed] Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y., Sept. 7, 1871 (BUF).
Roestelia lacerata Tul. fide Peck.
One of the Sister Is., Niagara Falls, on Amelanchier,
Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y., June 28, 1871 (BUF).
Septoria scrophulariae Peck
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. Nov. 4 (BUF).
Speira velutina P. et C. "nov.
sp." Goat Island. Ex Coll. G. W.
Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y. Dec. 18, 1877 (BUF).
Sphaeria doliolum Fr.
Goat Island
[handwriting G. W. Clinton] April 26 [1875] (BUF).
Sphaeria ovina Pers.
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Oct. 9, 1875 (BUF).
Stereum albo-badium Frieson
Goat Island, Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Oct. 12, 1872 (BUF).
Stictis versicolor Fr.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y., Nov. 9, 1875 (BUF).
Thelephora willeyi Clinton
Goat Island,
"near T. Swertia, but upper surface not rough [...]"
(BUF). [Corr. with Stanley Smith enclosed]. Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
Sept., 1870 (BUF). [Correspondence at BUF demonstrates this is the type
material of what is now referred to as Stereum diaphanum]
Tremella albida Hud.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. June 28, 1871 (BUF).
Tremella aurantia Schw.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. April 20, 1870 (BUF).
Tubulina cylindrica Bull.
Goat Island. Ex
Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. July 5, 1875 (BUF).
Uncinula circinata C. et P.
Goat Island,
Sugar Maple, on Acer saccharinum [= Acer saccharum
of the nineteenth century] [handwriting G. W. Clinton] (BUF).
Ustilago erythronii Clinton
Goat Is. "Prof. Wm. G. Farlow (letter No.
234, Mar. 15, 1878) says this is Ustilago Ornitho-gali
(S.&K.) Magnus, and that Prof. Fischer de Waldheim is of the same
opinion." Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo,
N.Y. May 24, 1873 (BUF).
Vermicularia dermatium Fr.
Goat Island, on Osmorhiza
brevistylis (= Osmorhiza claytonii) [handwriting G. W.
Clinton] Nov. 4 [1877] (BUF).
Vermicularia liliacearum Schw.
Goat Island, Allium
tricoccum [handwriting G. W. Clinton] Sept. 25 [1871] (BUF).
Xylaria digitata Grev.
Goat Island,
"Mr. Peck now deems it X. hypoxylon v. pedata, Fr.
see letter 149. Feb. 1870." Ex Coll. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y.
June 28, 1870 (BUF).
MODERN COLLECTIONS
Curated in both the Clinton
Herbarium, Buffalo Museum of Science (BUF) and the New York Botanical Garden
(NY)
Bisporella citrina (Batsch:Fries)
Korf & Carpenter
Goat Island, north slope, on rotten log, 1 Nov
1988, Buck 16294 (BUF, NY).
Cladobotryum varium Nees ex Duby
Second Sister, west end, on Trametes versicolor,
2 Nov 1988, Buck 16367A (NY).
Coprinus comatus (Muell. ex Fr.) S.
F. Gray. SHAGGY MANE.
Goat Island,
north side, wooded slope, Eckel Nov. 1, 1988. [Specimen rotted before
processing.]
Coryne dubia (Persoon) S. F. Gray
Goat Island,
north slope, on rotten log, 1 Nov 1988, Buck 16288 (NY).
Flammulina velutipes (Curtis ex
Fries) Singer WINTER MUSHROOM.
Goat Island, north slope, on tree trunk,
1Nov1988, Buck 16310 (BUF, NY); stump, northern wooded slopes of the island,
sticky smooth chestnut brown to orange to yellowish caps, velvety stipe base,
Eckel with R. Zander, Nov. 1, 1988 (BUF); stump by east entrance to the
restaurant by Terrapin Point, old Acer saccharum stump, sticky
smooth chestnut brown to orange to yellowish caps, velvety stipe base, Eckel
ver. E. Both, Oct. 28, 1988 (BUF).
Goat Island, rocky base of island near American
Falls, rotted wood by entrance to the elevator, sticky smooth chestnut brown
to orange to yellowish caps, velvety stipe base, Eckel w. R. Zander, Nov. 1,
1988 (BUF).
Ganoderma applanatum (Persoon)
Patouillard
Goat Island, north slope, on dead tree, 1 Nov
1988, Buck 16314 (BUF, NY).
Second Sister, west end, on tree stump, 2 Nov
1988, Buck 16391 (BUF, NY).
Gibellula pulchra (Saccardo) Cavara
Goat Island,
north slope, on dead spider, 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16307 (NY).
Hymenoscyphus calyculus
(Sowerby:Fries) Phillips
Second Sister, west end, on dead wood, 2 Nov.
1988, Buck 16374 (NY).
Hysterium angustatum Albertini
& Schweinitz
Luna Island, on stump, 1 Nov. 1988, Buck, 16322 (BUF, NY).
Lactarius sp.
Second of the Three Sisters
Islands, west end,
specimen uniformly brownish orange, Eckel prelim. det. E. Both, Oct. 28, 1988
(BUF).
Lecanidion atratum (Hedwig ex
Fries) Endlicher
Goat Island, north slope, on rotten log, 1 Nov.
1988, Buck 16290 (BUF, NY).
Lepista glaucocana
Goat Island,
central woods, soil, toward east end, white to buff to tan all over, Eckel
det. E. Both, Nov. 2, 1988 (BUF).
Marasmius sp.
Goat Island,
moist, rich soil by culvert in woode, north end of the island, east of the
pedestrian bridge, Eckel w. R. Zander prelim. det. E. Both, Sept. 23, 1988
(BUF).
Pholiota sp.
Goat Island,
chestnut brown top, side of rotten wood, Eckel prelim. det. E. Both, Nov. 1,
1988 (BUF).
Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacquin ex
Fr.) Kummer
Goat Island, stump in Ash-Sugar maple-Elm woods,
north slope, pileus pearly grayish-white, Eckel w. R. Zander Nov. 1, 1988
(BUF).
Polyporus squamosus Mich. ex Fries
Goat Island, in shaded Acer saccharum-Fraxinus
americana mixed woodland, on old stump, Eckel 8704001, Sept. 9, l984
(BUF); base of cliff, west end, on old log, Eckel 881101, Nov. 1, 1988 (BUF).
Polyporus squamosus is a common and conspicuous fungus to be
seen in the area collected and throughout the Niagara River Gorge and
surrounding woodlands.
Polyporus sulphureus (Bull.) Fr.
SULPHUR POLYPORE, CHICKEN MUSHROOM.
Goat Island, south end in split trunk of living Fraxinus
americana,
brilliant yellow, Eckel Oct. 28, 1988 (BUF).
Scolecosporiella typhae (Dudemans)
Petrak
Second Sister, east end, on dead leaves of Typha
angustifolia, 2 Nov 1988, Buck 16397 (NY).
Trametes sp.
On dying Prunus virginiana, near
maintenance shed, Eckel prelim. det. E. Both, Oct. 28, 1988 (BUF).
Trametes versicolor
(Linnaeus:Fries) Pilat
Second Sister, west end, on stump, 1 Nov. 1988,
Buck 16367 (BUF, NY).
Ustulina deusta (Hoffman:Fries)
Petrak
Goat Island,
north slope, on dead tree, 1 Nov. 1988, Buck 16296 (NY).
The assistance of Ernst Both of the Buffalo Museum of Science in certain
determinations is gratefully acknowledged. Dr. William R. Buck also
generously collected fungi on Goat Island and acknowledgement is made to Dr.
Clark Rogerson of the New York
Botanical Garden, who
has determined certain of these specimens.
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