Plants, algae and fungi of Victoria

Victoria is home to a diverse array of plants, algae and fungi. This diversity reflects the variety of environments (coastal to alpine and temperate to semi-arid) and vegetation types (such as grassland, heathland and forest) in the state.

Production of checklists and floras and other resources for identification of the plants, algae and fungi of Victoria has been a key role of Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) Melbourne since the inception of the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL) in 1853.

A flora is a comprehensive treatment of the plants from a particular area, usually illustrated and with identification aids such as keys. Each Australian state and territory has a flora, with various degrees of geographic coverage and stages of completion. The Australian Biological Resources Study produces the Flora of Australia series, which includes brophytes and lichens, and parallel series on Fungi of Australia and Algae of Australia.

The most recent Flora of Victoria was completed in 1999, and covers all vascular plants. For other groups of plants, algae and fungi, there are no recent flora treatments specifically for Victoria, but available volumes of the Flora, Algae and Fungi of Australia series often cover Victorian species.

Resources for identification of Victoria's plants, algae and fungi are listed below under commonly used informal groups of plants, algae and fungi. Resources include floras, checklists, field guides (usually richly illustrated) and electronic identification packages (typically multiple access keys).

Mapping the plants, algae and fungi of Victoria

Distribution maps are provided for all vascular plants included in Flora of Victoria. Maps are also provided in taxonomic volumes of Flora of Australia, Fungi of Australia and Algae of Australia.

Online maps are generated by Australia's Virtual Herbarium (AVH), which offers rapid access to the combined databased holdings of the major botanical herbaria in Australia. AVH maps plants, algae and fungi. Maps only show specimens that have been databased, so some herbarium holdings are not yet accessible via AVH. The National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL) holds the most substantial collection of Victorian plants, algae and fungi. Nearly all MEL collections of plants and fungi are databased, and about two thirds of algal collections are databased.

The Fungimap mapping scheme targets readily recognisable species of macrofungi.

Victorian plants

Vascular plants include the flowering plants, conifers, ferns and fern allies. Some 4,833 vascular plants are currently known from Victoria, of which 1,448 are naturalised (weeds).

The non-vascular members of the plant kingdom, such as bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), Chlorophyta (green algae) and Rhodophyta (red algae) are dealt with separately below.

Floras and handbooks

The Flora of Victoria is a comprehensive handbook to all vascular plants (native and naturalised) in Victoria. A number of species have been described since publication of the Flora. Descriptions of many of these can be found in the journal Muelleria.

Foreman, D.B. and Walsh, N.G. (1993). Flora of Victoria, vol. 1. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Walsh, N.G. and Entwisle, T.J. (1994). Flora of Victoria, vol. 2. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Walsh, N.G. and Entwisle, T.J. (1996). Flora of Victoria, vol. 3. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Walsh, N.G. and Entwisle, T.J. (1999). Flora of Victoria, vol. 4. Inkata Press, Melbourne.

Printed checklist

Walsh, N.G. and Stajsic, V. (2007). A census of the vascular plants of Victoria, 8th edn. Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, South Yarra.

Online checklist

Walsh, N.G. and Stajsic, V. A census of the vascular plants of Victoria, 8th edn. Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, South Yarra.

Field guides

Costermans, L.F. (2009). Native trees and shrubs of south-eastern Australia. Reed New Holland, Sydney.

Electronic identification

[Viridans Biological Databases] (2003). Wild Plants of Victoria. Viridans, Brighton. [Distribution information for Victorian vascular plants, along with colour photographs of approximately 2,500 species.]
Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research (2006). EUCLID. Eucalypts of Australia, 3rd edn. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.
Maslin, B.R., Tame, T., Coleman, H., McDonald, M.W., Spokes, T., O'Leary, M., Walsh, N.G., Kodela, P.G. and Thiele, K. (2001). Wattle: acacias of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and Department of Conservation and Land Management, Perth.
Sharp, D. and Simon, B.K. (2002). AusGrass: grasses of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane.

Victorian bryophytes

The mosses and liverworts of Victoria are relatively well known, although there is no up-to-date flora treatment for the state.

Floras and handbooks

Scott, G.A.M. (1985). Southern Australian liverworts. Australian Flora and Fauna Series, no. 2. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
Scott, G.A.M. and Stone, I.G. (1976). The mosses of southern Australia. Academic Press, London.

Printed checklists

Streimann, H.S. and Klazenga, N. (2002). Catalogue of Australian mosses. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 17. Australian Biological Resources Study, Camberra.
McCarthy, P.M. (2003). Catalogue of Australian liverworts and hornworts. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 21. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Online checklist

McCarthy, P.M. Checklist of Australian Liverworts and Hornworts, version 6. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.
Klazenga, N. Catalogue of Australian Mosses (AusMoss). Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

Field guides

Jarman, S.J. and Fuhrer, B.A. (1995). Mosses and liverworts of rainforest in Tasmania and south-eastern Australia. CSIRO Australia and Forestry Tasmania.
Meagher, D. and Fuhrer, B. (2003). A field guide to the mosses and allied plants of southern Australia. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 20. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, Blackburn.

Electronic identification

Glenny, D. and Malcolm, B. (2005). Key to Australasian liverwort & hornwort genera. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and Centre for Biological Information Technology, Brisbane.

Victorian freshwater algae

Freshwater algae include filamentous green algae and red algae.

Floras and handbooks

Entwisle, T.J., Skinner, S., Lewis, S.H. and Foard, H.J. (2007). Algae of Australia: Batrachospermales, Thoreales, Oedogoniales and Zygnemaceae. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Printed checklist

Day, S.A., Wickham, R.P., Entwisle, T.J. and Tyler, P.A. (1995). Bibliographic checklist of non-marine algae in Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Online checklist

Entwisle, T.J. and Nairn, L. Freshwater algae: census of freshwater algae in Australia.

Field guides

Entwisle, T.J., Sonneman, J.A. and Lewis, S.H. (1997). Freshwater algae in Australia: a guide to conspicuous genera. Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

Electronic identification

ALGKEY. First release version. [An interactive information and retrieval system to the freshwater algae recorded from Australia. Taxa are keyed to generic level.]

Victorian marine algae

Marine algae occur in several kingdoms. The Rhodophyta (red algae) and Chlorophyta (green algae) are members of the plant kingdom. The Phaeophyceae (brown algae), Dinophyta (dinoflagellates), Xanthophyceae (yellow-green algae) and diatoms are members of the kingdom Chromista (which also includes the fungal-like Oomycetes), and the Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are prokaryotes, more closely related to bacteria. The Algae of Australia series will cover all these groups.

Floras and handbooks

Huisman, J.M. (2006). Algae of Australia: Nemaniales. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
Womersley, H.B.S. (1984). The marine benthic flora of southern Australia, part I. Government Printer, Adelaide. [Includes Chlorophyta.]
Womersley, H.B.S. (1987). The marine benthic flora of southern Australia, part II. South Australian Government Printing Division, Adelaide. [Covers Phaeophyta.]
Womersley, H.B.S. (1994). The marine benthic flora of southern Australia, part IIIA. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 1. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. [Covers seven orders of Rhodophyta.]
Womersley, H.B.S. (1996). The marine benthic flora of southern Australia, part IIIB. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 5. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. [Covers four orders of Rhodophyta.]
Womersley, H.B.S. (1998). The marine benthic flora of southern Australia, part IIIC. State Herbarium of South Australia, Adelaide. [Covers two families of the order Ceramiales of the Rhodophyta.]
Womersley, H.B.S. (2003). The marine benthic flora of southern Australia, part IIID. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 18. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and State Herbarium of South Australia, Adelaide. [Covers three families of the order Ceramiales of the Rhodophyta.]

Online checklist

Australian Marine Algal Name Index. A database of the taxonomy (with both accepted names and their synonyms), nomenclature and distribution of the Australian marine macro-algae and some of the marine protists.

Field guides

Fuhrer, B., Christianson, I.G., Clayton, M.N. and Allender, B.M. (1988). Seaweeds of Australia, 2nd edn. Reed, Frenchs Forest.

Victorian lichens

Lichens are lichenised fungi, and mostly occur in the Ascomycota, with a few species in the Basidiomycota.

Floras and handbooks

George, A.S. (ed.) (1992). Flora of Australia, vol. 54, Lichens: Introduction, Lecanorales 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
Orchard, A.E. (ed.) (1994). Flora of Australia, vol. 55, Lichens: Lecanorales 2, Parmeliaceae. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.
McCarthy, P.M. (ed.) (2000). Flora of Australia vol. 58A, Lichens 3. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
McCarthy, P.M. (ed.) (2004). Flora of Australia, vol. 56A, Lichens 4. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
McCarthy, P.M. (ed.) (2009). Flora of Australia, vol. 57, Lichens 5. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Keys

Lumbsch, H.T., McCarthy, P.M. and Malcolm, W.M. (2001). Key to the genera of Australian lichens, apothecial crusts. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 11. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.
McCarthy, P.M. (2001). Key to the genera of crustose pyrenocarpous lichens in Australia, Flora of Australia, vol. 58A, pp. 197–206.
McCarthy, P.M. and Malcolm, W.M. (2004). Key to the Genera of Australian macrolichens. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 23. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Printed checklist

McCarthy, P.M. (2003). Catalogue of Australian lichens. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 19. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Online checklist

McCarthy, P.M. Checklist of the lichens of Australia and its island territories. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Field guides

Eldridge, D. and Tozer, M.E. (1997). A practical guide to soil lichens and bryophytes of Australia's dry country. Department of Land and Water Conservation, Sydney.
Kantvilas, G. and Jarman, S.J. (1999). Lichens of rainforest in Tasmania and south-eastern Australia. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series, no. 9. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Victorian macrofungi

Most macrofungi are in the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota of the true fungi. There are likely to be at least 5,000 species of macrofungi in Victoria, of which only about half are presently named. Descriptions and keys are scattered in the technical literature. There are monographs for some groups (such as polypores, thelephores and gasteromycetes) but the names used are outdated. This literature is accessible through the Interactive Catalogue of Australian Fungi. Some readily recognisable species are targets for the Fungimap mapping scheme.

Mycotas and handbooks

Only one taxonomic volume of the Fungi of Australia series covering macrofungi has been published.

Young, A.M. (2005). Fungi of Australia: Hygrophoraceae. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Printed checklists

May, T.W. and Wood, A.E. (1997). Catalogue and bibliography of Australian macrofungi 1. Basidiomycota p.p. Fungi of Australia, vol. 2A. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.
May, T.W., Milne, J., Shingles, S. and Jones, R.H. (2003). Catalogue and bibliography of Australian fungi. 2. Basidiomycota p.p. & Myxomycota p.p. Fungi of Australia, vol. 2B. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Online checklist

The Interactive Catalogue of Australian Fungi currently provides comprehensive coverage of macrofungi in the Basidiomycota and Myxomycota (but not Ascomycota). It does not provide state distribution, but does allow searching for species with Victorian type localities.

Field guides

Grey, P. and Grey, E. (2005). Fungi down under: the Fungimap guide to Australian fungi. Fungimap, South Yarra.
Fuhrer, B. (2005). A field guide to Australian fungi. Bloomings Books, Melbourne.

Victorian microfungi

Within the true fungi, microfungi occur in all phyla, with the bulk of the diversity being within the Ascomycota. There are also microscopic fungus-like organisms in the Chromista (Oomycetes) and Protoctista (slime moulds). There will be many thousands of species of microfungi in Victoria, especially leaf-inhabiting fungi of native plants, but these are very poorly documented at present. Descriptions and keys for microfungi are scattered in the technical literature.

Mycotas and handbooks

There are only two published taxonomic volumes of Fungi of Australia series covering microfungi.

Priest, M.J. (2006). Fungi of Australia: Septoria. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
Vánky, K. and Shivas, R.G. (2008). Fungi of Australia: the smut fungi. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra and CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Printed checklists

Cunnington, J. (2003). Pathogenic fungi on introduced plants in Victoria: a host list and literature guide for their identification. Department of Primary Industries, Knoxfield.
McAlpine, D. (1895). Systematic arrangement of Australian fungi. Robt. S. Brain, Government Printer, Melbourne. [This is the most recent printed checklist covering all groups of Australian fungi. It includes state distribution.]