Arthur Lister, 1830-1908
Gulielma Lister, 1860-1949
The Listers
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Arthur Lister, 1830-1908 |
Gulielma Lister, 1860-1949 |
The Listers, father and daughter, were amateur naturalists whose work greatly influenced myxomycete taxonomy. They produced many publications, paying special attention to environmental conditions and their effect on fruiting body structure and occurrence. The Monograph of the Mycetezoa was first published in 1894, and the 2nd and 3rd editions are a tribute to the Listers' artistic ability. The color plates are suitable for use in picture-keying of specimens.
Educated primarily at home, Gulielma Lister was an accomplished artist and naturalist. In a time before "women's rights," she was a founding member of the British Mycological Society (president in 1912 and 1932), and fellow, council member and vice-president of the Linnaean Society. These would not be small accomplishments for a female today, let alone the early 1900's.
Thomas Huston Macbride (1848-1934)
Thomas Macbride became interested in the myxomycetes through his interest in the field of botany. He was largely responsible for enlarging the herbarium at the State University of Iowa, including collections of myxomycetes from all over the world. His first work on the myxomycetes was a monograph, The Myxomycetes of Eastern Iowa, published in 1891. In 1899, he published North American Slime Molds. Shortly before his death, The Myxomycetes, written in collaboration with G. W. Martin, was published. Of the then known species of slime molds, 64 were described and named by Macbride and Martin.
George Edward Massee (1850-1917)
Massee's monograph was based mainly on the collections housed at the Kew herbarium. Although still used for taxonomy and nomenclature, many of the species included in Massee's monograph have been found to be synonyms.
Joseph Thomas Rostafinski (1850-1925)
A student of de Bary, Rostafinski's work introduced the use of microscopic characteristics for myxomycete identification. Prior to this, identification was limited to macroscopic variations in morphology. Rostafinski's works, including Versuch eines Systems der Mycetezoen (1873) and Sluzowce Monographia (1874, 1875) are published in Polish.
This is an incomplete list. More individuals and images will be added soon.
Special thanks to David Mitchell and the British Mycological Society for providing the above photographs.
