Harvey Willson Harkness (May 25, 1821 – July 10, 1901) was an American mycologist and natural historian best known for his early descriptions of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

fungal species. Born and raised in Massachusetts and trained as a physician, Harkness came to California during the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

in 1849. He first set up a medical practice in the mining camp at Bidwell's Bar but moved to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

in 1851. He rose to prominence as physician, educator, real estate developer, and newspaper editor in Sacramento, becoming part of the social circle of early California notables such as Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker,

Collis Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested ...

, and Mark Hopkins. His active interest in school education led to his election as the first president of the Sacramento board of education in 1853. Harkness was a participant in the ceremony in May 1869 that marked the completion of the First transcontinental railroad, representing California and bearing the

Golden Spike The golden spike (also known as The Last Spike) is the ceremonial 17.6- karat gold final spike driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States connecting the Central Pacific Railroad ...

that was driven in by Leland Stanford marking the completion of the railroad. Having earned a large fortune in Sacramento real estate, Harkness retired from his medical practice in 1869 and relocated to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. There, he was elected a member of the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

in 1871, becoming vice president in 1878 and its president from 1887 to 1896. He became the Academy's curator of fungi in 1896. He devoted himself to research into the natural history of the Pacific States, publishing articles on the age of the Lassen Cinder Cone and the nature of the fossil footprints discovered near Carson City, Nevada.">Carson City "Giant Human Tracks"
at paleo.cc He also travelled, visiting North Africa, Europe and the eastern USA several times. In November 1869 he was a guest at the opening of the Suez canal in Egypt. The bulk of his research was devoted to cataloging the previously undescribed fungi of California. In the last 30 years of his life, Harkness authored or coauthored a number of papers and books on California fungi (especially truffles), ranging from simple species lists to a detailed monograph of California hypogeous fungi. These included the important early work co-authored with Justin P. Moore in 1880, ''Catalogue of the Pacific Coast Fungi'' (published by the California Academy of Sciences). He collected, exchanged or purchased over 10,000 specimens of fungi that were donated to the California Academy of Sciences in 1891. The collection contained many

type specimens In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

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Personal life

Harkness's parents originated from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and the family lived in Pelham, Massachusetts. He was their seventh child and the only one who survived into adulthood. He studied at the

Berkshire Medical College Berkshire Medical College (originally the Berkshire Medical Institution, and sometimes referred to as Berkshire Medical College) was a medical school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It is notable for establishing the first professorship in mental d ...

in Massachusetts, graduating in 1847. He left Massachusetts for California in 1849 for his health as well as the potential of the Californian gold rush and joined with a group of emigrants at Rock Island, Illinois to travel there. He married Amelia Griswold in 1854. She died within a year of the marriage.

Legacy

*Harkness and his correspondents described scores of fungal species that were new to science. His 1899 monograph, ''California Hypogeous Fungi'', alone described some 55 new species of hypogeous fungi. *The phytopathogenic ascomycete genus ''Harknessia'' M.C. Cooke and the monotypic genus '' Harknessiella purpurea'' P.A. Saccardo are named for him, as are the names of fungal species in 20 genera, as well as several species of

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

, including '' Leptosiphon harknessii''. *Mount Harkness, a mountain near

Lassen Peak Lassen Peak ( ), commonly referred to as Mount Lassen, is a lava dome volcano and the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range of the Western United States. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, it is part of the ...

, is named for him. *There is an H. W. Harkness Elementary School in Sacramento, California, commemorating his role as first Superintendent of Schools for Sacramento. *Harkness Street in Sacramento, between 17th and 18th Streets, lies within the 90 acres of land on the southwest corner of what is now Broadway Ave. and Freeport Blvd. that Harkness owned.

References

External links

"MycoDigest: Pioneers of California Mycology: HW Harkness"
by Peter Werner, '' Mycena News'' 57(12):1,4,6, December 2006.
"The Society's Founders"
by Irma West, ''Sierra Sacramento Valley Medicine'' 55(2), March/April 2004. (Scroll down to "Harvey W. Harkness, MD, 1821–1901".) {{DEFAULTSORT:Harkness, H. W. 19th-century American botanists American mycologists 1821 births 1901 deaths People associated with the California Academy of Sciences People from Pelham, Massachusetts Scientists from California Botanists with author abbreviations Writers from San Francisco Stanford University trustees