Last December, several tree trunks, previously been inoculated with various species of mushrooms in the Laboratory of General and Agricultural Microbiology of the AUA, were placed in the Botanical Garden (Agadaki Estate, Kairios Library). After several months in the Laboratory to satisfactorily incubate the fungi in the wood, the time has come for them to be transferred to their permanent position, as exhibits of the Botanical Garden to form part of the “mushroom garden” under preparation! Among the species settled in the Botanical Garden are some very well-known, popular, edible or pharmaceutical species, such as Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), Ganoderma (Ganoderma lucidum and G. resinaceum), the Hoof fungus (Fomes fomentarius), the pharmaceutical Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) and the wood-borne fungus Abortiporus biennis. All above species have been found to grow on alders of Andros Island, while all the pure fungal cultivations used to inoculate the woods came from mushrooms collected on the island. With this action the creation of the “mushroom garden” in the Botanical Garden, a panhellenic novelty, was completed. At the same time, this year as well, from the autumn of 2021 until the beginning of January 2022, the recording of the native mushrooms of the Botanical Garden continued and more than 30 species have been found so far.
