SoftwareReview The Fungi CD: 2nd Edition 2009 Publisher:FieldNaturalistsClubofVictoria, 2009. RRP$15.00 Over 1100 high qualityimages, alongwith de- tailed descriptions of250 species offungi, are featured on the 2nd edition of The Fungi CD, publishedundertheauspicesoftheFieldNatu- ralistsClubofVictoria FungiGroup. A clearly written introductory section in- cludesbasicinformationaboutbiodiversity,the interconnectedness ofall livingthings, the im- portanceoffungitooureverydaylivesandtheir vital ecological roles as decomposers,parasites and symbiotic partners with plants. There is a sectionaboutslimemouldswithasummaryof atalkbyPaulGeorge. Forthosebaffledbytheever-changingnames offungi, there is a brief overview ofthe Lin- naean system ofclassification and the work of Elias Fries (1794-1878) who used morphol- ogy and spore colour to classify fungi. Recent Congratulations to all members of the Vic- DNA research, especially analysis, is changing torian Fungi Group and particularly Jurrie our understanding ofthe genetic relationships Hubregtse who took most ofthe photographs between different species offungi and leading andcompiledthisinformative fungalresource. tomuchtaxonomicdebate. Furtherimagesare ofthe excellent qualityyou The ‘fungi skills’ section advises on making wouldexpectfromsuchaccomplishedphotog- fungi collections, obtaining spore prints and raphers as Arthur Carew, Paul George, Virgil photographing fungi. An illustrated glossary Hubregtse, Ed Grey, Ivan Margitta, and Geoff definescommonlyusedterms. Lay. There are several ways of finding a name TheCDcanbeusedonPCs,Macs,andLinux for the species included on the CD. Gilled or computers. Itneedsascreensize of1024x768 non-gilled fungi can be searched forby shape, pixelssosomescrollingisrequired iftheCD is genus or species. The ‘shape’ page has a button usedonasmalllaptop. for selection by spore colour. Each species is Given the sheer number of fungal species, illustrated with up to five photographs, show- many ofwhich are yet to be described, it was ingdifferent stages ofgrowth andvariations in unrealisticofmetoexpectthatthisnewfungal colour,with ashortparagraph describingbasic resource would help to identify scores of my field characters. A separate section (accessed unnamedphotographs. However, it did enable by clicking on the name ofthe species) gives metoidentifyseveral speciesand updateother detailed descriptions ofbiology, including life names. It is anexcellentguide; I highlyrecom- mode and growth habits; size, shape and col- menditandeagerlyawaitthenextedition. ourofthepileus(cap),lamellae(gills)andstipe (stem);generalcomments,andadescriptionof microscopicfeatures. A full listofreferences is 999DenmansRoad,BirraleSe,aTrasamhanLial7o3y0d3 includedinthissection. Email:[email protected] Vol 127 (5) 2010 219