The Fongarium of the Université de Montréal, formerly named Fongarium du Cercle des mycologues de Montréal, is a collection established in 1988. Between 1988 and 2008, the development of the Fongarium was made possible thanks to Raymond Archambault, president of the Cercle des mycologues de Montréal (CMM) at the time. He ensured the continuity of the project and enabled the decisive contribution of Yves Lamoureux, an independent mycologist and scientific advisor to the CMM, supported by amateur mycologists both affiliated and unaffiliated with the CMM. Upon its integration into the Biodiversity Centre in 2011, the CMMF Fongarium contained approximately 5,000 dried specimens of macrofungi photographed in their fresh state, representing 2,000 species.

 

Subsequently, the Fongarium was enriched by several private (amateur mycologists) and institutional (research centres and universities) collections, reaching 30,000 specimens under the direction of Raymond Archambault. The collection consists mainly of macrofungi, but also includes several thousand phytopathogenic fungi, lichens, and myxomycetes (Amoebozoa) from Quebec and neighboring provinces and states. More than half of the macrofungi and myxomycete records include photographs of fresh specimens, as well as hundreds of microphotographs.

 

In 2022, the Fongarium, previously owned by the Cercle des mycologues amateurs de Montréal (CMM), was transferred to the Université de Montréal. Étienne Léveillé-Bourret was appointed interim curator of the collection, but most of the work continues to be carried out on a volunteer basis.

 

Between 2022 and 2024, the Fongarium was enriched with approximately 2,400 lichen specimens from southern Quebec, primarily from the private collections of Arold Lavoie and Janie Collin (https://lichens.quebec/).