The Code
Rules for the scientific naming of fungi are laid out in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. The Code also includes provisions for its governance. Appendices to the Code list names that have been conserved, protected or rejected, along with lists of suppressed works.
There are on-line versions of the Code and its appendices, along with printed versions, prepared after each International Botanical Congress. The current edition is the Shenzhen Code.
An innovation of the Shenzhen Code is that provisions relating solely to names of fungi are brought together in Chapter F.
It is important that mycologists consult the latest version of Chapter F, which is:
Governance
Rules for governance of the Code are set out in its Division III. Changes to governance introduced in the Shenzhen Code mean that amendments to Chapter F of the Code (provisions that deal solely with names of organisms treated as fungi) are dealt with by the Fungal Nomenclature Session of an International Mycological Congress. The rest of the Code (most of which also applies to fungi) is governed by the Nomenclature Section of an International Botanical Congress.
Fungal Nomenclature Session
The Fungal Nomenclature Session (FNS) is the forum in which formal proposals to amend Chapter F of the Code are considered.
Formal proposals to amend Chapter F are published in IMA Fungus along with a Synopsis prepared by the Secretaries of the Fungal Nomenclature Bureau. The formal proposals and the Synopsis for proposals to be considered by the IMC12 FNS are available here in advance of publication. Prior to the FNS there is a Guiding Vote on all formally published proposals to amend the Code.
The FNS also appoints the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi.
Decisions of the FNS become binding upon acceptance by the plenary session of the same International Mycological Congress.
The Fungal Nomenclature Session at IMC12 in Maastricht in 2024 will be held on Thursday, August 15, 2024 Symposium 42 (NOMENCLATURE A: 10:30-12:30) and Symposium 48 (NOMENCLATURE B: 14:30-16:30). The formal vote on proposals concerning DNA as type will take place at 12:45-13:45.
All persons registered for at least that day of the Congress are eligible to attend and vote in the FNS. Each person eligible to attend has one vote, and there are no institutional votes. Only those present in the room, on the day, can vote.
The Agenda and Procedures for the Fungal Nomenclature Session provides detail about the items that are to be dealt with by the FNS and the way that discussion and voting will proceed.
Several proposals from the floor have been received and can be found here.
Any more "Proposals from the floor" must be in the hands of the Secretaries in electronic form prior to the start of the Fungal Nomenclature Session. Send to tom [dot] may [at] rbg [dot] vic [dot] gov [dot] au
All documents for the Fungal Nomenclature Session are available at: https://tinyurl.com/mrmruw2z
Fungal Nomenclature Bureau
The Fungal Nomenclature Bureau (FNB) is responsible for organising the Fungal Nomenclature Session and the Guiding vote.
For the Fungal Nomenclature Session at IMC12 in 2024 the Fungal Nomenclature Bureau comprises:
- Amy Rossman (Corvallis, USA, Chair)
- Tom May (Melbourne, Australia, Secretary)
- Konstanze Bensch (Utrecht, Netherlands, Deputy Secretary)
- Ewald Groenewald (Utrecht, Netherlands) & Jos Houbraken (Utrecht, Netherlands) (Co-recorders)