Charles Crossland (3 September 1844 – 9 December 1916) was an English

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 ...

Background and career

Charles Crossland was born in Halifax,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. His parents ran a general store and Charles left school at 13 to help them run the business. He trained as a butcher and opened a shop in Wyke in 1864, the same year he married Mary Ann Cragg. The couple had four children, two dying in infancy, and Mary Ann herself died in 1869. Charles remarried in 1871 and had two children by his second wife, Clementina Foster. In 1873, the couple returned to Halifax, where they opened a butcher's shop which they continued to run till Charles largely retired from the trade (leaving the shop mostly in the hands of a managing partner) in 1890. He was treasurer of the Halifax Butchers' Association from 1881 to 1908 and often referred to himself as a "Knight of the Cleaver". He spoke and was interested in the local Halifax dialect, publishing a number of papers on local place-names and surnames in the ''Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society'', of which he was a member, eventually becoming the society's president. In later years, he also compiled a bibliography of Halifax, parts of which were published in the ''Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society'', as well as a local guide book, ''Pleasant walks around Halifax'' (1910). He died in Halifax on 9 December 1916.

Mycology

Crossland initially became interested in

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

in 1880, whilst helping one of his daughters with a Sunday school wild flower project. He joined the Halifax Scientific Society to pursue his new-found enthusiasm, and subsequently the

Yorkshire Naturalists' Union The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union is an association of amateur and professional naturalists covering a wide range of aspects of natural history. It is one of United Kingdom's oldest extant wildlife organisations and oldest natural history federat ...

. In 1888, at a YNU fungus foray, Crossland met

George Edward Massee George Edward Massee (20 December 1845 – 16 February 1917) was an English mycologist, plant pathologist, and botanist. Background and education George Massee was born in Scampston, East Riding of Yorkshire, the son of a farmer. He was educat ...

who encouraged him to take an interest in

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 classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

. As a result, he developed an expertise in

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

, with a particular interest in the

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 ...

, making extensive local collections, often in the company of Henry Thomas Soppitt and fellow mycologist and bryologist James Needham. Crossland produced many papers on Yorkshire fungi, including several describing species new to science. His two major works were the cryptogamic section of the ''Flora of the parish of Halifax'', jointly authored with botanist W.B. Crump in 1904, and ''The Fungus Flora of Yorkshire'', a substantial volume co-authored with Massee, in 1905. His collections of fungi, drawings, and notes are now in the mycological herbarium at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

. Charles Crossland became the first secretary of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union Mycological Committee in 1892, becoming president of the union itself in 1907. He was a founder member of the

British Mycological Society The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi. Formation The British Mycological Society (BMS) was formed by the combined efforts of two local societies: the Woolhope Naturalists' Field ...

, becoming its first treasurer in 1896. He was made a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1899.

Taxa

Crossland described several new species of fungi from Yorkshire, either individually or with Soppitt or Massee. These included several agarics, notably ''

Lactarius glaucescens ''Lactifluus piperatus'' (synonym ''Lactarius piperatus''), commonly known as the blancaccio, is a semi-edible basidiomycete fungus of the genus ''Lactifluus''. Despite being edible, it is not recommended by some because of its poor taste, thoug ...

'' Crossl., but were mostly

, including ''Ascophanus globosopulvinatus'' (Crossl.) Boud. ex Ramsb., ''Niptera pilosa'' (Crossl.) Boud., ''Melastiza contorta'' (Massee & Crossl.) Spooner & Y.J. Yao, and ''Scutellinia citrina'' (Massee & Crossl.) Spooner & Y.J. Yao. A number of species were named in Crossland's honour, including ''Clavaria crosslandii'' Cotton, ''Ascobolus crosslandii'' Boud., and ''Octospora crosslandii'' (

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...

& Itzerott) Benkert.

Selected publications

*Crossland, C. (1892). New and rare fungi near Halifax. ''The Naturalist'' 1892: 371-372 *Crossland, C. (1899). ''Mollisia cinerea'' and its varieties. ''Transactions of the British Mycological Society'' 1: 106–109. *Crump, W.B. & Crossland, C. (1904). ''The flora of the parish of Halifax''. Halifax Scientific Society https://archive.org/stream/floraofparishofh1904crum#page/n5/mode/2up *Massee. G. & Crossland, C. (1905). ''The fungus flora of Yorkshire''. London: A. Brown https://archive.org/stream/fungusfloraofyor00mass#page/n0/mode/2up

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crossland, Charles 1844 births 1916 deaths 19th-century British biologists British Mycological Society English mycologists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London 19th-century British botanists 20th-century British botanists People from Halifax, West Yorkshire Members of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union