The discovery was made by researchers working with collections held at the National Herbarium of Victoria, which is home to 1.6 million irreplaceable plant, algae and fungi specimens, and where the specimens had previously been classified under the broader genus Peziza. Genetic sequencing refined that classification, confirming the existence of two distinct species found across southern Australia.

Dr. Camille Truong, Research Scientist (Mycology) at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, said the finding demonstrates the power of natural history collections linked to DNA technologies to accelerate species discovery.

Despite their critical role in ecosystems, fungi remain one of the most under-described groups of organisms on Earth. Scientists estimate that only about 155,000 of the planet's 2–3 million fungal species—around 5%—have been formally described. In Australia it is estimated that there are at least five times more fungal species than plant species, yet only a fraction of those species have been formally described and assessed for conservation purposes.