Paul Kummer (22 August 1834 – 6 December 1912) was a minister,

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, and

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

Zerbst Zerbst () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until an administrative reform in 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the former Anhalt-Zerbst district. Geography Zerbst is situated in the Anhalt-Wittenberg regio ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, known chiefly for his contribution to mycological

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal naming conventions, conventions of everyday speech to the i ...

. Earlier

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

agarics An agaric () is a type of fungus fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. In the UK, agarics are called "mushrooms ...

by pioneering fungal

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. Career Fries was born at Femsjö (Hylte Municipality), Småland, the son of the pastor there. He attended school in Växjö. He acquired ...

designated only a very small number of

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

, with most

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

falling into ''

Agaricus ''Agaricus'' is a genus of mushrooms containing both edible and poisonous species, with over 400 members worldwide and possibly again as many disputed or newly-discovered species. The genus includes the common ("button") mushroom ('' Agaricus bi ...

''. These few genera were divided into many ''tribi'' ("tribes"). In his 1871 work, ''Der Führer in die Pilzkunde'', Kummer raised the majority of Fries ''tribi'' to the status of genus, thereby establishing many of the generic names for agarics that are in use to this day. From 1857 to 1863, he worked as a private lecturer, then served as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in Zerbst (1863–1877).Natural History Museum Kassel
biography/bibliography From 1877 onward, he was a minister in Hann Munden.BHL
Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications

Bibliography

* "Der Führer in die Pilzkunde. Anleitung zum methodischen, leichten und sichern Bestimmen der in Deutschland vorkommenden Pilze, mit Ausnahme der Schimmel- und allzu winzigen Schleim- und Kern-Pilzchen." 1. Auflage. Zerbst (E. Luppe); (1871). * "Der Führer in die Mooskunde. Anleitung zum leichten und sicheren Bestimmen der deutschen Moose". 119 S.; Berlin. (1873). * "Der Führer in die Lebermoose und die Fefäßkryptogamen" (Schachtelhalme, Bärlappe, Farne, Wurzelfrüchtler). 1. Aufl.; Berlin (Springer); (1875). * "Kryptogamische Charakterbilder". VIII+251 S., 220 Abb.; Hannover, (1878). * "Der Führer in die Mooskunde. Anleitung zum leichten und sicheren Bestimmen der deutschen Moose", 2. Aufl.; Berlin, (1880). * "Die Moosflora der Umgebung von Hann.-Münden". - Bot. Centralblatt 40: 65–72, 101–106; Kassel, (1889). * "Der Führer in die Mooskunde. Anleitung zum leichten und sicheren Bestimmen der deutschen Moose". 3. Auflage; Berlin, (1891). * "Der Führer in die Lebermoose und die Gefäßkryptogamen" (Schachtelhalme, Bärlappe, Farne, Würzelfrüchtler). 2. Auflage VII+148 S.; Berlin (Springer), (1901).

References

External links

Historical Index of Mycologists, ''Illinois Mycological Society''. 1834 births 1912 deaths German mycologists German Protestant clergy {{Germany-botanist-stub