George Knox Merrill (16 October 1864 –21 October 1927) was an American
lichenologist. He was a leading exponent of lichenology in the early 20th century. He was particularly interested in species of the family
Cladoniaceae
The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. It is one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi, with about 560 species distributed amongst 17 genera. The reindeer moss and cup lichens (''Cladonia'') belong t ...
, in which he published several new species, varieties, and forms. In 1909 he started publishing ''Lichenes Exsiccati'', which he continued intermittently until 1927; 400 specimens were presented in this
exsiccata
Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae refer to numbered collections of dried herbarium specimens respectivel ...
series.
Merrill was born in
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...
, to John Merrill (a farmer) and Jane Prescott. He attended public schools in Lewiston, and later, in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
where he and his mother moved after his father died. He entered
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
but never finished a degree there. Around this time he took up an interest in
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
and started writing articles for the newspaper ''The Beverly Citizen''. Merrill was also a
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
player of note, and once won the state championship of Maine.
References
External links
Farlow Reference Library of Cryptogamic Botany– George Knox Merrill (1864–1927) Papers
American lichenologists
1864 births
1927 deaths
People from Lewiston, Maine
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