René Charles Joseph Ernest Maire (29 May 1878,

Lons-le-Saunier Lons-le-Saunier () is a Communes of France, commune and capital of the Jura (department), Jura Department, eastern France. Geography The town is in the heart of the Revermont region, at the foot of the first plateau of the Jura massif. The Jur ...

– 24 November 1949) was a French botanist and mycologist. His major work was the ''Flore de l'Afrique du Nord'' in 16 volumes published posthumously in 1953. He collected plants from Algeria, Morocco, France, and Mali for the herbarium of the

National Botanic Garden of Belgium The Meise Botanic Garden ( nl, Plantentuin Meise, french: Jardin botanique de Meise), until 2014 called the National Botanic Garden of Belgium ( nl, Nationale Plantentuin van België, french: Jardin Botanique National de Belgique), is a botani ...

Biography

His botanical career began very early. At 18, he penned a work on the local flora of the

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

. He collected plants for study in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

between 1902 and 1904. After obtaining his PhD in 1905, he was a professor of botany at the Faculty of Sciences in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

starting in 1911 where he specialised in

phytopathology Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomyc ...

. He was put in charge of botanical research by the Moroccan government and was responsible for botanical studies in the Central Sahara. He was a member of a number of institutions, including the ''Société mycologique de France'' and the ''Société d'histoire naturelle de la Moselle'' based in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

, which he joined in 1897 at the start of his career. He was the author of numerous works, including important contributions between 1918 and 1931 on the flora of North Africa. He ended his career as the Rector of the

University of Algiers The University of Algiers (Arabic language, Arabic:جامعة الجزائر – بن يوسف بن خـدة ), commonly called the Algiers 1 University, is a public university, public research university located in Algiers, Algeria. It is the ...

. His

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

was ''The Flora of North Africa,'' a 16-volume work published posthumously in 1953.

Named species

Among species he named or renamed are: * '' Amanita codinae'' (Maire) Singer * '' Argyrocytisus battandieri'' (Maire) Raynaud * '' Campanula monodiana'' Maire * ''

Gymnopilus sapineus ''Gymnopilus sapineus'', commonly known as the scaly rustgill or common and boring gymnopilus, is a small and widely distributed mushroom which grows in dense clusters on dead conifer wood. It has a rusty orange spore print and a bitter taste. ...

'' (Fr.) Maire * ''

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca ''Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca'', commonly known as the false chanterelle, is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. It is found across several continents, growing in woodland and heathland, and sometimes on woodchips used in gar ...

'' (Wulfen: Fr.) Maire * ''

Hygrophorus reai ''Hygrophorus'' is a genus of agarics (gilled mushrooms) in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "woodwaxes" in the UK or "waxy caps" (together with '' Hygrocybe'' species) in North America, basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are typically fleshy, often w ...

'' Maire * '' Hypomyces vuilleminianus'' Maire * ''

Laccaria bicolor ''Laccaria bicolor'' is a small tan-colored mushroom with lilac gills. It is edible but not choice, and grows in mixed birch and pine woods. It is found in the temperate zones of the globe, in late summer and autumn. ''L. bicolor'' is an e ...

'' (Maire) P.D. Orton * '' Lentinellus vulpinus'' (Fr.) Maire & Kühner * ''

Psathyrella candolleana ''Candolleomyces candolleanus'' (formerly known as ''Psathyrella candolleana'') is mushroom in the family Psathyrellaceae. It is commonly found growing in small groups around stumps and tree roots on lawns and pastures in Europe and North America ...

'' (Fr.) Maire * ''

Psathyrella hydrophila ''Psathyrella'' is a large genus of about 400 species, and is similar to the genera ''Coprinellus'', ''Coprinopsis'', ''Coprinus'' and ''Panaeolus'', usually with a thin cap and white or yellowish white hollow stem. The caps do not self digest as ...

'' (Fr.) Maire * ''

Xeromphalina campanella ''Xeromphalina campanella'' is a species of mushroom. The common names of the species include the golden trumpet and the bell Omphalina. The genus name ''Xeromphalina'' means "little dry navel" and ''campanella'' means "bell-shaped", respectively ...

'' (Bataille: Fr.) Maire & Kühner He also erected the family

Paxillaceae The Paxillaceae are a family of mushroom-forming fungi bearing close affinity to the boletes. Collectively, the family contains nine genera and 78 species. The type genus is ''Paxillus'', containing fungi with decurrent gills, and ''Gyrodon'', ...

, noting its affinities with

bolete {{refimprove, date=July 2020 A bolete is a type of mushroom, or fungal fruiting body. It can be identified thanks to a unique mushroom cap. The cap is clearly different from the stem. On the underside of the cap there is usually a spongy surfa ...

s, in 1902, based on anatomical similarities. This was confirmed many years later by molecular studies firmly placing the genera ''

Paxillus ''Paxillus'' is a genus of mushrooms of which most are known to be poisonous or inedible. Species include '' Paxillus involutus'' and '' Paxillus vernalis''. Two former species—''Tapinella panuoides'' and ''Tapinella atrotomentosa''—have now ...

'' and ''

Gyrodon ''Gyrodon'' is a genus of pored mushroom bearing close affinity to the genus ''Paxillus''. Recent molecular research has confirmed this relationship of the two genera as sister taxa, together diverging as one of the most basal lineages in the B ...

'' at the base of the clade containing the members of the genus ''

Boletus ''Boletus'' is a genus of mushroom-producing fungi, comprising over 100 species. The genus ''Boletus'' was originally broadly defined and described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, essentially containing all fungi with hymenial pores instead of ...

''.

Legacy

The

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

awarded him the Prix Montagne for 1903. Several species were named in his honour, including fungi, such as the beechwood sickener (''

Russula mairei Formerly ''Russula mairei'' (Singer), and commonly known as the beechwood sickener, the now re-classified fungus ''Russula nobilis'' (Velen.) is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus ''Russula''. This group of mushrooms are noted for their brit ...

''), '' Maireella'' (which is a

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 ...

of fungi in the class

Dothideomycetes Dothideomycetes is the largest and most diverse class of ascomycete fungi. It comprises 11 orders 90 families, 1300 genera and over 19,000 known species. Traditionally, most of its members were included in the loculoascomycetes, which is not par ...

), René Maire's ringless Amanita ('' Amanita mairei'') from Egypt, '' Clitocybe mairei'', '' Conocybe mairei'', '' Clavicorona mairei'', ''

Cortinarius mairei ''Cortinarius'' is a globally distributed genus of mushrooms in the family Cortinariaceae. It is suspected to be the largest genus of agarics, containing over 2,000 widespread species. A common feature among all species in the genus ''Cortinariu ...

'', '' Galerina mairei'', '' Hemimycena mairei'', and ''

Lactarius mairei ''Lactarius mairei'' is a member of the large milk-cap genus ''Lactarius'' in the order Russulales. Originally found in Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of Nor ...

'', among others, as well as some North African plants such as the ornamental grass Atlas fescue ('' Festuca mairei''). The genus '' Mairetis'' from the Canary Islands and Morocco, (in the

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the order ...

family) is also named after him. Species names for Maire typically end in '.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maire, Rene 1878 births 1949 deaths People from Lons-le-Saunier 20th-century French botanists French mycologists Members of the Institute for Catalan Studies

Biography

Named species

Legacy

See also

Notes