Newswise — After years of careful stewardship by Cornell scientists, a collection of more than 2,000 species of native Chinese fungi, spirited out of the country for safety before World War II, is finally set to make its way home.

The specimens are not only a reminder of China’s biodiversity, but also of the legacy of S.C. Teng, a Cornell student-turned-pioneering-scientist who risked his life during war to keep the fungi safe.

After the Japanese invaded China in 1937, Teng shipped 2,000 specimens to safety at Cornell in 1940, where they remain today. The specimens that remained in China were destroyed during World War II.

“These specimens are invaluable for Chinese mycologists to have available so they can document their own current flora and gain some insight into what conditions were at the time they were collected,” Korf explained. “Many of these collection areas no longer exist in China.”