Research collections result when these fungi are dried and saved. Research collections contain an enormous amount of historical and potential information.
Collections are also vouchers, or evidence, for the existence of a species.
When a mycologist discovers a new fungus species, he or she describes it in a journal article or book. If other mycologists doubt that a new species is truly new, they can borrow the collections used to prepare the description and examine them personally. A herbarium is a collection of research collections. Herbaria are usually part of a university or botanical garden. They can be as small as a single room containing a few hundred collections in one or two cases, or a very large facility housing millions of collections.