Matilda Cullen Knowles (31 January 1864 – 27 April 1933) is considered the founder of modern studies of Irish

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. following her work in the early twentieth century on the multi-disciplinary Clare Island Survey. From 1923 she shared curatorship of the National Museum of Ireland herbarium – a collection of dried and pressed plants now housed at the National Botanic Gardens. Her work is said to have "formed an important baseline contribution to the

cryptogamic A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name ''Cryptogamae'' () means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact ...

botany of Ireland and western oceanic Europe".

Early life and education

Knowles was born in

Cullybackey Cullybackey or Cullybacky () is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies 3 miles north-west of Ballymena, on the banks of the River Main, and is part of Mid and East Antrim district. It had a population of 2,569 people in the ...

near Ballymena, Northern Ireland, in 1864. Her early interest in botany was encouraged by her father, William James Knowles, himself an amateur scientist who would take Matilda and her sister to meetings of the Belfast Naturalists field club. This is where she first met

Robert Lloyd Praeger Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down. He attended the school of the Reverend McAlister and t ...

, who continued to be a lifelong influence. In 1895 she was introduced to the Derry botanist Mary Leebody and together they worked on a supplement to Samuel Stewart and T.H.Corey's 1888 book the ''Flora of the North-east of Ireland''. T.H.Corey was credited posthumously as he had died on an expedition in Ireland. She then volunteered to help with the

crowd sourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

of material about the plants of Tyrone County. Whilst completing this work Knowles published her own first paper about Tyrone's flowering plants in 1897. Knowles eventually sent in over 500 examples that were considered for inclusion in the ''Irish Topographical Botany'', which Praeger published in 1901. Knowles and her sister, Catherine, then attended the

Royal College of Science for Ireland The Royal College of Science for Ireland (RCScI) was an institute for higher education in Dublin which existed from 1867 to 1926, specialising in physical sciences and applied science. It was originally based on St. Stephen's Green, moving in 1 ...

for a year, where she took natural science classes some time between 1896 and 1900. In 1902, Knowles was appointed a temporary assistant in the then Botanical Section of the National Science and Art Museum. She worked closely with Professor Thomas Johnson to continue the development of the Herbarium collection. She also co-authored with him the ''Hand List of Irish Flowering Plants and Ferns'' (1910).

Professional career

Clare Island Survey

One of Knowles' first works was ''The Maritime and Marine Lichens of Howth'', which the Royal Dublin Society published in 1913. Knowles had gathered the knowledge and experience to do this whilst diligently assisting with a survey of

Clare Island Clare Island ( or ''Oileán Chliara''), also historically Inishcleer, is a mountainous island guarding the entrance to Clew Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. Historically part of the kingdom of Umhaill, it is famous as the home of the 15th century pi ...

as suggested by

. The 1910–1911 survey looked at dozens of different aspects of the small island just outside

Clew Bay Clew Bay (; ga, Cuan Mó) is a natural ocean bay in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. It contains Ireland's best example of sunken drumlins. The bay is overlooked by Croagh Patrick to the south and the Nephin Range mountains of North Mayo. Cla ...

in Ireland. This novel survey involved not only Irish but also several European scientists including prominent UK lichenologist,

Annie Lorrain Smith Annie Lorrain Smith (23 October 1854 – 7 September 1937) was a British lichenologist whose ''Lichens'' (1921) was an essential textbook for several decades. She was also a mycologist and founder member of the British Mycological Society, wh ...

. This was claimed as the most extensive piece of field work at that time. As a result, Knowles was able to create a foundation for her later specialism in lichens.

Lichens monographs and specialism

Knowles published more than thirty scientific papers on a wide range of botanical subjects between 1897 and 1933. It was while studying the lichens of Howth that she discovered how lichens by the shore grow in distinct

tidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

s that can be distinguished by their colour: black, orange and grey. Her major work was ''The Lichens of Ireland'', which added over 100 species of Lichen to the Irish List and recorded the distribution of the eight hundred species identified in Ireland, was suggested by Praeger. She achieved this task with the collaboration of thirty other natural scientists. It was published in 1929 and included twenty lichens that has previously not been identified as Irish.

Later life

Professor Thomas Johnson retired in 1923, allowing Knowles to take over curatorship, working with Margaret Buchanan. As she became older, Knowles' hearing began to fail such that she had to rely on an

ear trumpet An ear trumpet is a tubular or funnel-shaped device which collects sound waves and leads them into the ear. They were used as hearing aids, resulting in a strengthening of the sound energy impact to the eardrum and thus improved hearing for a de ...

. Despite her deafness she would still attend meetings but she would signal when she thought that had been sufficient talk by putting down her hearing device. Knowles cared for and added to the National Museum Herbarium collection although never got the credit she deserved. In 1923 she planned to retire but

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

ended her life before she ended her career. Knowles died in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

on 27 April 1933.

Recognition

Knowles was honoured with a commemorative plaque, awarded by the Irish National Committee for Science and Engineering plaques, in October 2014 to mark 150 years since her birth.

List of publications

* * * * * *

Eponymous taxa

Several lichen species have been named in honour of Knowles, including: *'' Lecidea matildae'' H.Magn. (1956) *'' Pestalotia matildae'' Richatt (1953) *'' Verrucaria knowlesiae'' P.M.McCarthy (1988) However, *'' Acarospora knowlesii'' C.W.Dodge (1968) is named for geologist Paul H. Knowles of the U.S. Antarctic service, who collected the type specimen in 1940 (note the masculine ending), and *'' Meliola knowltoniae'' Doidge (1924) and *'' Septoria knowltoniae'' Verwoerd & Dippen. (1930) are so called because they were described from specimens found growing on the South African plant '' Knowltonia vesicatoria''.
http://www.librifungorum.org/Image.asp?ItemID=55&ImageFileName=PetrakSuppl-145.jpg Index of fungi, Petrak's supplements]

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, Matilda 1864 births 1933 deaths 19th-century Irish botanists 20th-century Irish botanists People from County Antrim Irish women scientists Lichenologists Irish women botanists Women lichenologists