Smut fungi in Africa – a checklist

The checklist of the smut fungi of Africa and adjacent islands contains 427 species in 47 genera, arranged alphabetically. A short description of each genus is provided. For each species the author(s), place of publication, type(s), nomenclatural and taxonomic synonyms are given, as well as the host plant family, host plant genus (genera), and general distribution are mentioned. For each species the African host plants and the countries from where they are known are enumerated. A chapter of doubtful, excluded or invalidly published taxa is compiled. A list of selected literature is completing the paper. The checklist reflects the great, but incompletely known biodiversity of Africa.