BIODIVERSITY AND MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF MUSHROOMS AT THE TROPICAL MOIST DECIDUOUS FOREST REGION OF BANGLADESH

Abstract

Mushrooms have long been regarded all over the world as the most delectable and succulent of foods. The floristic composition of Bangladesh has been studied earlier by several investigators but the biodiversity of mushroom flora which forms an important component of the ecosystem has been largely neglected in tropical moist deciduous forest regions of Bangladesh. There are basically four types of forest present in Bangladesh. This investigation was conducted in seven different regions of tropical moist deciduous forest of Bangladesh namely Dhaka, Gazipur, Bogra, Rajshahi, Pabna, Jaipurhat and Dinajpur. Mushroom flora associated with these forest region were collected, photographed and preserved in laboratory for the first time in Bangladesh. A total of fifty samples were collected and identified to twenty one genus and thirty three species. The predominant genera were Ganoderma sp., Daedaleopsis sp., Lepiota sp., Marasmius sp. and Collybia sp. All the mushroom flora and its morphological characteristics have been described and illustrated.