THE DISTRIBUTION OF MYCORRHIZAS AMONG FAMILIES OF VASCULAR PLANTS

From a literature search, information has been compiled on the mycorrhizal status under field conditions of 20 or more species in each of 25 families. The percentage of species which are mycorrhizal ranged from 100% in seven families to 8% in Cruciferae, many families having additional species that are sometimes mycorrhizal. No family in the list was consistently non-mycorrhizal. Apart from the Ericaceae, the families were either predominantly ectomycorrhizal or predominantly VA mycorrhizal. However, almost all families had at least one example of each of these mycorrhizal types.