Fungi Family Index
The family index has been divided into three separate sections to cover the three main fungal phyla. Each phylum now has a page containing the links to the species for each family.
Ascomycota
This is the largest of the fungal phyla containing over 200 families. It is a very varied group including the familiar cup-fungi e.g. orange peel fungus, morels, saddle fungi and truffles; and the flask fungi e.g. candlesnuff fungus. The principal characteristic of the Ascomycetes is the production of sexual spores in asci or flasks. Most of the lichens are formed from the association of an ascomycete fungus with an alga and/or a cyanobacterium, however for simplicity we have placed the lichens in a separate section on this website.
Basidiomycota
This phylum contains most of the recognisable fungi: mushrooms and toadstools, puffballs and stinkhorns, corals and clubs, jelly fungi and brackets in addition to the rusts and smuts. The spores are carried on modified hyphae called basidia.
Zygomycota
This is a comparatively small phylum which includes a number of parasitic and pathogenic species. It is most commonly encountered in the form of various mould species on food or dung fungi. Zygomycota reproduce sexually but also asexually through the formation of sporangia and sporangiospores. They are distinguished from other types of asexual spores, such as conidia of the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, by their development.
Mycetozoa
These are the slime moulds which are fungus-like organisms but are classified as Protista. They have a complex life-cycle which includes a unicellular amoeboid phase and the production of spores in sporangia (fruiting-bodies). They have been included in this section for convenience.