William Mudd
William Mudd | |
---|---|
Born | 1829 Bedale, Yorkshire, England |
Died | 1979 Cambridge, England |
Occupation(s) | Gardener; Curator, Cambridge Botanic Garden |
Known for | lichenology; first book describing lichens of Britain and Ireland |
Notable work | A Manual of British Lichens (1861) |
William Mudd (1829 - 1879) compiled the first flora of the lichens of the British Isles, in 1861. He was curator of Cambridge Botanic Garden 1n 1864.
Personal life
William Mudd was born in
Career
Mudd was employed in country house gardens, initially training in gardening at the Darlington estate of the Pease family[2] and then moving to take charge of another estate. He met George Dixon (1812–1904), superintendent of the North of England Agricultural School and began to study, first practical horticulture and then botany including microscopy. Mudd became interested in lichens and began corresponding with other British and European lichen enthusiasts. His expertise was recognised.[1]
Mudd complied the first book describing the lichens of Britain and Ireland, published in 1861. He corresponded with and exchanged specimens from people across Europe who were also interested in lichens. This led Mudd to use microscopic fungal spore characters as part of his method to identify lichen species.
In 1864 Mudd was appointed as the
Publications
Mudd published his first paper, on lichens of the Cleveland area, in 1854. He also produced books and exsiccatae.
- William Mudd (1861) A Manual of British Lichens, description of all the species and varieties, five plates, with figures of the spores of one hundred and thirty species, illustrative of the genera 309 pp. together with a collection of specimens, the exsiccata Lichenum Britannicorum (1861). The specimens on which this book was based formed part of Mudd's personal collection. These are now in the Herbarium at Natural History Museum, London and were re-discovered in 2014.
- William Mudd (1865) British Cladoniae, exciccata released after he had moved to Cambridge but probably collected earlier when he was in Yorkshire.
Awards and legacy
Mudd was elected as an associate fellow of the
References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/72413. Retrieved 21 January 2024. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Seaward, Mark (1997). "Lecture meetings" (PDF). British Lichen Society Bulletin. 80 (Summer): 11–12. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ Kocourková, Jana; Knudsen, Kerry (2010). "Converting Mudd into Microns" (PDF). British Lichen Society Bulletin (107). Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ISBN 9780511702037.
- ^ "Welcome to the Falconer Museum". The Falconer Museum. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ "Lecania inundata (Hepp ex Körb.) M. Mayrhofer". University of Vienna. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Mudd.