Bessie Bernice Kanouse (born 1889; died February 4, 1969) was an American

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

Early life

Kanouse was the daughter of Milton D. Kanouse (1856-1934) and Lillie L. Kanouse (1858-1914). She had at least two siblings, Laverne (1892-1895), who died young, and Leon (1894-1980). She graduated from Quincy High School in Quincy,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in 1907 and went on to attend

Michigan State Normal School Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

in Ypsilanti. By 1913 she was working as a teacher in Quincy. In 1915 she was working as a laboratory assistant in the natural science department at Michigan State Normal and June 1916 is listed as her expected graduation date. Kanouse later returned to school and earned an AB at the University of Michigan (1922) and a PhD in biology (1926). Her interest in mycology was evident even in her undergraduate career; in 1920 she presented at the annual

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

meeting in Chicago on "The Life History in Culture of a Homothallic

Endogone ''Endogone'' is a genus of fungi in the family Endogonaceae of the division Zygomycota. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in temperate regions, and contains about 20 species. Species of ''Endogone'' form underground structures ...

Career

Following her graduation in 1926, Kanouse was appointed a curator of the University of Michigan Herbarium and an assistant to the Director, mycologist C. H. Kauffman. She accompanied Kauffman on several collecting expeditions, including trips to

Medicine Bow National Forest Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...

in 1923 and to Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the summer of 1927. Kanouse's first substantial contribution to mycology was "A Monographic Study of Special Groups of the Water Molds", published in two parts in the American Journal of Botany (June and July 1927), covering the families

Blastocladiaceae The ''Blastocladiaceae'' are a family of fungi in the division Blastocladiomycota. It contains the following genera: * ''Allomyces'' * ''Blastocladiella'' * '' Blastocladia'' * '' Blastocladiopsis'' * '' Microallomyces'' The family was circumsc ...

, Leptomitaceae, and Pythiomorphaceae. In 1929 Kanouse was serving as the president of the Women's Research Club at the university. Kanouse was a charter member of the

Mycological Society of America The Mycological Society of America (MSA) is a learned society that serves as the professional organization of mycologists in the U.S. and Canada. It was founded in 1932. The Society's constitution states that "The purpose of the Society is to promo ...

when it formed in 1932. In 1934 Kanouse was serving as the Botany sector chairman for the

Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters The Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters (MASAL) is a regional professional organization of scholars. Its main activity is the annual meeting (usually March), its quarterly journal of papers (the ''Michigan Academician''), and research ...

. and was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Kanouse self-published a book of poetry, "Songs to Birchwood", in 1939. In 1941 Kanouse was one of the founders of the Michigan Botanical Club and was for a short time the first Secretary/Treasurer. Kanouse published an appreciation of the mycological work of notable gynecologist Howard Atwood Kelly (1858-1943). Kanouse continued her work at the Herbarium until her retirement in 1960. Her areas of interest included

Discomycetes Discomycetes is a former taxonomic class of Ascomycete fungi which contains all of the cup, sponge and brain fungi and some club-like fungi. It includes typical cup fungi like the scarlet elf cup and the orange peel fungus, and fungi with frui ...

and

Phycomycetes Phycomycetes is an obsolete polyphyletic taxon for certain fungi with aseptate hyphae. It is used in the Engler system. Asexual reproduction takes place by zoospores(motile) or by Aplanospores(non-motile).These spores are endogenously produced i ...

, and she published many papers on specimens at the Herbarium, some of which she had collected herself.

Contributions to taxonomy

Kanouse is credited with describing the following: Orders:

Leptomitales Leptomitales are an order of water moulds within the class Oomycetes Oomycota forms a distinct phylogenetic lineage of fungus-like eukaryotic microorganisms, called oomycetes (). They are filamentous and heterotrophic, and can reproduce both ...

Genera: '' Acervus'', '' Gelatinodiscus'', ''

Leucovibrissea ''Leucovibrissea'' is a genus of fungi in the family Vibrisseaceae. The genus is monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does ...

'', ''

Modicella ''Modicella'' is a genus of fungi in the Mortierellaceae in the family of the Mucoromycota. It was formerly in the family Zygomycota Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, is a former division or phylum of the kingdom Fungi. The members are now par ...

'', '' Pseudociboria'' Species: ''Acervus aurantiacus'', ''

Blastocladia ''Blastocladia'' is a genus of aquatic fungi. Description ''Blastocladia'' species have a thallus that consists of a single, branched basal cell or trunk with rhizoids at one end and sporangia at the other. They are not able to use oxygen, altho ...

gracilis'', ''

globosa'', ''

tenuis'', ''

Cenangium ''Cenangium'' is a genus of fungi in the family Helotiaceae. The genus contains 25 species. The type species ''Cenangium ferruginosum'' causes dieback of pines. Species See also * Forest pathology Forest pathology is the research of bot ...

tennesseense'', ''

Chlorociboria aeruginascens ''Chlorociboria aeruginascens'' is a saprobic species of mushroom, commonly known as the green elfcup or the green wood cup because of its characteristic small, green, saucer-shaped fruit bodies. Although the actual fruit bodies are infrequently ...

'', ''Gelatinodiscus flavidus'', ''

Humaria ''Humaria'' is a genus of fungi in the family Pyronemataceae. The genus is widespread in northern temperate areas, and contains 16 species. The genus was circumscribed by Karl Wilhelm Gottlieb Leopold Fuckel Karl Wilhelm Gottlieb Leopold Fucke ...

stellata'', ''

Lachnum ''Lachnum'' is a genus of fungi in the family Hyaloscyphaceae. The genus contains about 251 species. It was circumscribed by Swedish botanist Anders Jahan Retzius Anders Jahan Retzius (3 October 1742 – 6 October 1821) was a Swedish chemist, ...

palmae'', ''

Lambertella ''Lambertella'' is a genus of fungi in the family Rutstroemiaceae. The genus name of ''Lambertella'' is in honour of Lambert Gelbenegger (fl. 1917), an Austrian clergyman and botanist. The genus was circumscribed In geometry, the circumscr ...

belisensis'', ''Leucovibrissea obconica'', ''Pseudociboria umbrina'', ''

Psilachnum ''Psilachnum'' is a genus of fungi within the Hyaloscyphaceae family. The genus contains 27 species. References External links *Psilachnum' at Index Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names ( scienti ...

cassandrae'', ''Psilachnum miniatum'', '' Trichophaea michiganensis'', ''Tryblidaria washingtonensis''

Legacy

A genus in

Saccardiaceae The Saccardiaceae are a family of fungi in the Ascomycota phylum. This family can not yet be taxonomically classified in any of the ascomycetous classes and orders with any degree of certainty (incertae sedis). They have a worldwide distributi ...

was named "Kanousea" in 1962 by

Augusto Chaves Batista Augusto Chaves Batista (15 June 1916 – 30 November 1967) was a Brazilian mycologist. He published more than 600 research papers, either alone or in collaboration with others. At the time of his death at the age of 51, Batista was the director of ...

and

Raffaele Ciferri Raffaele Ciferri (30 May 1897, Fermo – 12 February 1964, Pavia) was an Italian botanist, agriculturalist and mycologist. He studied agricultural sciences at the University of Bologna. From 1925 to 1932, he was based in the Dominican Republic ...

in her honor,Beihefte zur Sydowia, Annales Mycologici, Ser. II., 1962, p. 57 but the species included have been removed to ''Johansonia'' and ''

Microcallis ''Microcallis'' is a genus of fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are cla ...

''. The species '' Octospora kanouseae'' in the family ''Pyronemataceae'' was named in her honor in 1966 by V. P. Tewari and D. C. Pant. The agaric mushroom species ''Hebeloma kanouseae'' was named in her honor by mycologist Alexander H. Smith in 1983. Kanouse is buried in Lake View Cemetery in Quincy, Michigan, with her father, mother, and infant sister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanouse, Bessie B. People from Quincy, Michigan 1889 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American botanists American mycologists University of Michigan faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science