George Newton Best (October 16, 1846 – June 18, 1926) was an American bryologist, expert on moss

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

, and second president of the

Sullivant Moss Society The American Bryological and Lichenological Society is an organization devoted to the scientific study of all aspects of the biology of bryophytes and lichen-forming fungi and is one of the nation's oldest botanical organizations. It was originall ...

.Snell, James P., and Franklin Ellis
History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey: with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers
Everts & Peck, 1881.

Biography

Best attended

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

for three years before leaving to teach high school in

Riegelsville, Pennsylvania Riegelsville is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 868 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden Metropolitan Statistical Area, des ...

. He resumed his education at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, graduating with a degree in medicine in 1875. He took up his medical practice in the Rosemont section of

Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey Delaware Township is a township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. Part of the township is on the Hunterdon Plateau, while the southern portions are in the Amwell Valley. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's popul ...

. Best was also a prominent bryologist, contributing often to

Torrey Botanical Club Torrey Botanical Society (formerly Torrey Botanical Club) was started in the 1860s by colleagues of John Torrey. It is the oldest botanical society in the Americas. The Society promotes the exploration and study of plant life, with particular ...

publications. He was instrumental in revising and reclassifying many moss genera, including ''

Thuidium ''Thuidium'' is a genus of moss in the family Thuidiaceae. The name comes from the genus '' Thuja'' and the Latin suffix -idium, meaning diminutive. This is due to its resemblance to small cedar trees. Description Members of the genus are chara ...

'', '' Claopodium'', ''

Heterocladium ''Heterocladium'' is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Thuidiaceae Thuidiaceae is a family of mosses within the order Hypnales. It includes many genera but the classification may need to be refined. The core genera are ''Thuidium '' ...

'', ''

Leskea ''Leskea'' is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Leskeaceae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in app ...

'', and '' Pseudoleskea''. Best served as associate editor of ''

The Bryologist ''The Bryologist'' is a peer reviewed scientific journal specializing in bryology. It is published quarterly by the American Bryological and Lichenological Society (ABLS). It began as a department of '' The Fern Bulletin'' devoted to the study o ...

'' from 1911 until his death, and as president of the Sullivant Moss Society from 1901 to 1902. Best was also a member of the

Medical Society of New Jersey The Medical Society of New Jersey was founded on July 23, 1766. It is the oldest professional society in the United States. History It was founded as the ''New Jersey Medical Society'' on July 23, 1766, at a meeting in Duff's Tavern, New Brunswick ...

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...

, and Torrey Botanical Club. He died on June 18, 1926.Beals, A. T. ''Dr. George N. Best, 1846-1926.'' The Bryologist, vol. 30, no. 2, 1927, pp. 20–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3238332

Legacy

Best's personal herbarium of mosses and publications were absorbed into the collection of the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

. In 1906, botanist Broth. published '' Bestia'', which is a genus of mosses belonging to the family

Lembophyllaceae Lembophyllaceae is a family of pleurocarpous mosses in the order Hypnales. It was originally described by Finnish botanist Viktor Ferdinand Brotherus (1849–1929) in 1909. The family is mainly found in Australasia and southern South America. T ...

and it was named in George Newton Best's honour.

Selected publications

*Best, G. (1896). Revision of the North American Thuidiums.

Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club Torrey Botanical Society (formerly Torrey Botanical Club) was started in the 1860s by colleagues of John Torrey. It is the oldest botanical society in the Americas. The Society promotes the exploration and study of plant life, with particular ...

, 23(3), 78–90. *Best, G. (1897). Revision of the Claopodiums. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 24(9), 427–432. *Best, G. (1900). Revision of the North American Species of Pseudoleskea. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 27(5), 221–236. *Best, G. (1901). Revision of the North American Species of Heterocladium. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 28(2), 123–131. *Best, G. (1901). Vegetative Reproduction of Mosses. The Bryologist, 4(1), 1º3. *Best, G. (1903). Revision of the North American Species of Leskea. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 30(9), 463–482.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, George Newton 1846 births 1926 deaths American botanists People from Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey University of Pennsylvania alumni