Fungal herbarium to be named for its founder

Dr. Sam Mitchel studying his favorite fungi

Forty years ago, a family physician named Dr. Sam Mitchel turned a hobby into a real scientific endeavor by establishing a “mushroom collection” at Denver Botanic Gardens.  The fungal collection at the Gardens is now the largest actively curated herbarium of Rocky Mountain fungi in the world, with over 24,000 specimens representing over 2,000 taxa.  Preserved collections of plants and fungi are called herbaria (herbarium is singular), and are an essential resource for scientists, land managers, botanical illustrators, horticulturalists, explorers, historians, educators, and others needing documentation or records about plants and fungi.  
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