Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1991, Page 75

THE FIRST RECORD OF DESCOLEA . .
79
plants in the plantation at Gundadalur
were introduced from Tierra del Fuego,
Argentina in 1979. The plants, which at
that time were 20-25 cm high, were initi-
ally planted in a nursery in Tórshavn and
were later transferred to their present lo-
calities. Considering the very long distance
from Tierra del Fuego to the Faroes, it
seems very unlikely that spores of the Des-
colea species should have crossed the
Equatorial winds and reached Tórshavn by
air. It is more likely that the roots of the
young plants were carrying their mycor-
rhiza already at the time of transportation.
It is generally believed that mycorrhizal
fungi play an important role for their
hosts, and it is possible that the success of
the introduced Nothofagus trees of the
Faroe Islands has been influenced by the
unaware, but succeded transfer of their
mycorrhizal symbionts.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Søren Ødum, The
Arboretum of Hørsholm, Denmark for in-
forations concerning the introduction of
Nothofagus to the Faroe Islands, Jóhannes
Jóhansen, Føroya Náttúrugripasavn, Tórs-
havn for arranging our visits to the Faroe
Islands in 1988 and 1989 and for translat-
ing the summary, Henning Knudsen, The
Botanical Museum of Copenhagen for fin-
ding relevant literature to identify this in-
teresting species, and Mikako Sasa, Insti-
tute of Thallophytes, Copenhagen for im-
proving the English text.
Summary
Hatsvampearten Descolea antarctica blev i
1989 fundet tre steder i plantagen i Tórs-
havn - i alle tilfælde i tilknytning til Sydbøg
Descolea anarctica, spores & basidia (JHP-62F),
cheilocystidia (JHP-175F) - scale: 10 /u,m
(Nothofagus). Hidtil var arten kun kendt
fra Ildlandet, og ingen af denne slægts ar-
ter har tidligere været fundet i Europa.
Det formodes, at svampen, der danner
mykorrhiza med Nothofagus-arter, er
kommet med de unge planter, der blev
indført direkte fra Ildlandet i 1979.