''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (
scientific name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...
s) in the
fungus
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately fr ...
kingdom. the project is based at the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...
, one of three partners along with
Landcare Research Landcare may refer to:
*Australian Landcare Council, a now superseded Australian government body
*Landcare in Australia, umbrella approach promoting land protection in Australia
* Landcare Research, New Zealand
*The Landcare movement in Australia
...
and the Institute of Microbiology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...
.
It is somewhat comparable to the
International Plant Names Index (IPNI), in which the Royal Botanic Gardens is also involved. A difference is that where IPNI does not indicate
correct names, the ''Index Fungorum'' does indicate the status of a name. In the returns from the search page a currently correct name is indicated in green, while others are in blue (a few, aberrant usages of names are indicated in red). All names are linked to pages giving the correct name, with lists of
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...
s.
''Index Fungorum'' is one of three nomenclatural repositories recognized by the
Nomenclature Committee for Fungi; the others are ''
MycoBank'' and ''
Fungal Names''.
Current names in ''Index Fungorum'' (''Species Fungorum'')
The main part of ''Index Fungorum'' is intended to be a global list of all fungus names which have ever been validly defined, but many of them are conflicting or no longer used. ''Species Fungorum'' is a closely related project based at the
Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew supported by
CABI to decide a consistent subset of the ''Index Fungorum'' names which can be recommended as currently valid. It is possible to search in either the ''Index Fungorum'' or the ''Species Fungorum'' list separately and the ''Index Fungorum'' results also give a
cross-reference
The term cross-reference (abbreviation: xref) can refer to either:
* An instance within a document which refers to related information elsewhere in the same document. In both printed and online dictionaries cross-references are important because ...
to ''Species Fungorum'' where an entry is available - names without such a reference are generally only of historical interest and should not be considered reliable for present use.
[See the pop-up "Help with searching" at .]
Life Science Identifiers (LSIDs)
''Index Fungorum'' provides
Life Science Identifiers (LSIDs) for records in its database.
Services
''Index Fungorum'' provides a
SOAP
Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are us ...
protocol
web service for searching its database and retrieving records. A
WSDL file describing the services is available.
See also
*
Australian Plant Name Index
The Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) is an online database of all published names of Australian vascular plants. It covers all names, whether current names, synonyms or invalid names. It includes bibliographic and typification details, informati ...
*''
Index Kewensis
The 1893 ''Index Kewensis'' (IK), maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is a publication that aims to register all botanical names for seed plants at the rank of species and genera. It later came to include names of taxonomic families ...
''
*
International Plant Names Index
References
External links
{{Wikidata property, P1391
Mycology
Online taxonomy databases