Natural history collections

Estonian National Fungal Collections

Dried specimens of fungi and lichens are stored in four main collections in Estonia, with the largest collections located in Tartu (at University of Tartu and Estonian University of Life Sciences) and smaller ones in Tallinn (at Tallinn Botanical Garden and Estonian Museum of Natural History). Across all collections, approximately 600,000 dried specimens are preserved. Most of the material held in fungal collections has been collected from Estonia, but a significant portion comprises materials brought from the territory of the former Soviet Union. In recent times, scientists have brought fungi and lichens from all continents. The living culture collection of fungi consists of fungi grown on agar medium and maintained alive under controlled conditions.