Howard Elson Bigelow (June 28, 1923 – November 21, 1987) was an American

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 ...

, born in 1923 in

Greenfield, Massachusetts Greenfield is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Greenfield was first settled in 1686. The population was 17,768 at the 2020 census. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Community College, the Pioneer Val ...

, and died in 1987. He studied at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

from 1941 to 1943. He left college to fight in the

American army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He returned to Oberlin after the war and obtained his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1949 and his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1951. He studied

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 ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

under the guidance of

Alexander Hanchett Smith Alexander Hanchett Smith (December 12, 1904 – December 12, 1986) was an American mycologist known for his extensive contributions to the taxonomy and phylogeny of the higher fungi, especially the agarics. Early life Smith, born in Crandon, Wis ...

(1904–1986) and received his doctorate in 1956. He was wed to mycologist

Margaret Elizabeth Barr-Bigelow Margaret Elizabeth Barr Bigelow (1923-2008) was a Canadian mycologist known for her contributions to the Ascomycetes fungi. Biography She was born on April 16, 1923 in Elkhorn, Manitoba. She studied at the University of British Columbia, ...

in 1956.Meredith Blackwell, Emory Simmons & Sabine Huhndorf (2008).
Margaret Elizabeth Barr Bigelow 1923–2008
. Mycologia. 101(3):281-283. doi:10.3852/08-186. Bigelow and his wife worked for

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

from 1957 to his death. He is the author of works on the

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 ...

of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Clitocybe ''Clitocybe'' is a genus of mushrooms characterized by white, off-white, buff, cream, pink, or light-yellow spores, gills running down the stem, and pale white to brown or lilac coloration. They are primarily saprotrophic, decomposing forest grou ...

'' and the family

Tricholomataceae The Tricholomataceae are a large family of mushrooms within the Agaricales. Originally a classic "wastebasket taxon", the family included any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to e.g. the ...

Selected publications

* Bigelow, HE. 1960, publ. 1962. Unusual fruiting of ''Cordyceps militaris''. ''

Mycologia ''Mycologia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes papers on all aspects of the fungi, including lichens. It first appeared as a bimonthly journal in January 1909, published by the New York Botanical Garden under the editorship of W ...

'' 52 (6): 958. * ___________; Barr, ME. 1962. Contribution to the fungus flora of north-eastern North America. ''Rhodora'' 64 (758): 126–137, illus. * ___________; Barr, ME. 1963. Contribution to the fungus flora of north-eastern North America. III. ''Rhodora'' 65 (764): 289–309, 4 pls, 10 figs. * ___________; Smith, AH. 1963. ''Clitocybe'' species from the Western United States. ''Mycologia'' 54 (5): 498–515, 4 pls. * ___________. 1965. The genus ''Clitocybe'' in North America: section Clitocybe. ''Lloydia'' 28 (2): 139–180. * ___________. 1985. North American species of ''Clitocybe''. Part II. ''Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia'' 81: 281–471, 49 planchas. * ___________; HD Thiers, edit. 1975. Studies on Higher Fungi, a Collection of Papers Dedicated to Dr. Alexander H. Smith on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday. 78 planchas (2 coloreadas) & 12 figuras en texto. 8vo, pp. vi+372. * ___________. 1979. Mushroom pocket field guide. 117 pp. ilustraciones. 1ª impr. 1974. * ___________. 1982. North American Species of ''Clitocybe''. Ed. Lubrecht & Cramer Ltd, Port Jervis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigelow, Howard E. American mycologists 1923 births 1987 deaths University of Michigan alumni 20th-century American botanists

Selected publications

See also

References