The fungi from the Kansas State University (KSU) herbarium were donated to the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) in March, 1999. This herbarium consists of approximately 32,000 specimens of which about half belong to published and widely distributed, uniform sets of duplicate specimens. The remaining approximately 16,000 are unicate specimens. NYBG will incorporate the unicates into its fungal herbarium, and to offer the duplicates to other institutions. Incorporation of the Kansas State University fungus herbarium will involve segregation of unicate from duplicate specimens, repair, databasing, nomenclatural updating and filing of specimens to be retained. Based on previous experience, this work will require approximately 3200 person-hours, or two F.T.E. Curatorial Assistants for one year. Currently the KSU specimens are stored at NYBG in sealed shipping boxes, because of a lack of herbarium case space for unassimilated specimens. Fungal specimens stored outside of standard herbarium cases are at risk of damage from mold and insect infestation. Therefore it is imperative to incorporate the KSU specimens into the NYBG fungal herbarium cases as soon as possible. In the fall of 1997, the NYBG will begin construction of a new Plant Sciences Building, which will house the entire herbarium and library, and the collections will be moved to the new building in 1999. Planning for the arrangement of the fungal herbarium in the new building will be greatly facilitated if the KSU specimens have been incorporated before the herbarium is moved.
