Johan Johnsen Havaas (Havås) (19 October 1864–27 April 1956) was a farmer and
botanist
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 wo ...
Johan Havaas grew up on the farm Havås in Granvin and took an early interest in natural history and botany. He was particularly interested in the cryptogam flora. Havaas had only social studies and was largely self-taught, and also learned foreign languages (including Latin, English, German, French, Portuguese and Spanish) on his own, so he could both exchange letters with scientists abroad and publish his dissertations. With support from the Bergen Museum, among others, he traveled all over the country and collected and recorded large quantities of
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
es,
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.parasitic fungi. His interest was too low, and he himself described about 6 new species. For example, he found the first specimen of the lichen coastal coral lichen (''
Bunodophoron melanocarpum
''Bunodophoron'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Sphaerophoraceae.
Species
, Species Fungorum accepts 18 species of ''Bunodophoron'':
*'' Bunodophoron australe''
*'' Bunodophoron coomerense''
*'' Bunodophoron crespoae''
*''B ...
'') in Norway, near Mosterhamn in Sunnhordaland in 1912. In 1911 he registered a find of bog herring (''
Saxifraga hypnoides
''Saxifraga hypnoides'', called mossy saxifrage, cut-leaved saxifrage, Dovedale moss, Eve's cushion, Indian moss, lady's cushion, and queen's cushion, is a species of flowering plant in the family Saxifragaceae. It is native to northwestern Europ ...
'') in
Stadlandet
Stad or Stadlandet is a peninsula in Stad Municipality in the northwestern part of the Nordfjord district in Vestland county in Norway. The peninsula is considered the dividing point between the Norwegian Sea to the north and the North Sea to th ...
, a moss that was first found in Norway in the early 1800s. Two
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.species epithet Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany)
A botanical name ...
named after him. One is ''
Flavoplaca havaasii
''Flavoplaca'' is a genus of crust-like or scaly lichens in the family Teloschistaceae. It has 28 species with a mostly Northern Hemisphere distribution.
Taxonomy
The genus was circumscribed in 2013 by Ulf Arup, Patrik Frödén and Ulrik Søch ...
'', the other is '' Umbilicaria havaasii''. His work aroused international interest, while he has been less well known in Norway. The Granvin Bygdatun Museum has a collection after Johan Havaas, otherwise there are collections after him at the University of Bergen and at
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
in North Carolina in the USA. In 1934 he was honored with the King's Medal of Merit in gold. He continued to run his father's farm in Granvin even in his old age. He probably had the last kvanngarden in Granvin.
Selected publications
*Floristiske undersøgelser i Søndre Bergenhus Amt (1897) (I Bergens museums aarbok 1897)
*Nye findsteder for nogle sjeldnere lichener (1899) (I Bergens museums aarbok 1899)
*Om vegetationen paa Hardangervidden (1902) (I Bergens museums aarbok 1902)
*Beiträge zur Kenntnis der west-norwegischen Flechtflora 1 (1909) (I Bergens museums aarbok 1909)
*Lichenvegetationen ved Mosterhavn (1916) (I Bergens museums aarbok 1917—1918)
*Om vegetasjonen på toppen av Hårteigen (1927) (I Bergens museums aarbok 1927)
*Om lichenvegetasjonen på Stadtlandet (1935) (I Bergens museums aarbok 1935)
*Notes to the lichen flora of the mountains Steinsæterhorgi and Smøreggfjellet in Granvin, Hordaland fylke (1954) (Årbok for *Universitetet i Bergen 1954)
*Granvins løvmosflora (1961) (Årbok for Universitetet i Bergen 1961)
Johan Havaas has also published two valuable dissertations:
*Lichenes exsiccati Norvegiae og
*Lichenes Norvegiae occidentalis exsiccati