Carleton Rea (7 May 1861 – 26 June 1946) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and naturalist.

Background and education

Carleton Rea was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, the son of the City

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

. He was educated at The King's School and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, where he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

. He entered the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

and became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in the

Oxford Circuit The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

, but never pursued his career with undue enthusiasm and ceased taking cases by 1907.

Natural history and mycology

In the words of John Ramsbottom, Rea was "active in his leisure" and devoted much of his time to natural history, having joined his local Worcestershire Naturalists' Club as a schoolboy (he was president of the club in its centenary year, at the time of his death). He collaborated with John Amphlett in the ''Botany of Worcestershire'', published in 1909, and wrote several later supplements. His first paper in 1892 was on rare plants of the

Severn Valley The Severn Valley is a rural area of the West Midlands region of England, through which the River Severn runs and the Severn Valley Railway steam heritage line operates, starting at its northernmost point in Bridgnorth, Shropshire and runni ...

. Rea's special interest was in

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 ...

and in 1896 he was one of the founder members of the

British Mycological Society The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi. Formation The British Mycological Society (BMS) was formed by the combined efforts of two local societies: the Woolhope Naturalists' Field ...

. He was the first editor of the society's transactions and was elected its president in 1907 and again in 1921. Rea was a keen field mycologist, cutting a distinctive figure at forays in Panama hat, white waistcoat, knickerbockers, and monocle. He attended meetings in France and was made an honorary member of the

Société mycologique de France The Société mycologique de France (Mycological Society of France), often known by the abbreviation SMF, is an association linking French and French-speaking mycologists. History The society was founded in 1884 in Épinal in the Vosges by thr ...

in 1934. He also visited colleagues in the United States, including

William Murrill William Alphonso Murrill (October 13, 1869 – December 25, 1957) was an American mycologist, known for his contributions to the knowledge of the Agaricales and Polyporaceae. In 1904, he became the assistant Curator at the New York Botanical Ga ...

, in 1926. Rea's first wife, Emma Amy Rose, was also a naturalist and mycologist, painting many watercolours (now in the mycology collections at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

) of the fungi they collected together. She was elected president of the British Mycological Society in 1915. Carleton Rea wrote a series of papers on British fungi, particularly

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 ...

, and described a number of new species. His experience and knowledge of the larger ''

basidiomycetes Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

'' were eventually collected in the ''British Basidiomycetaceae'' (1922), the last comprehensive book on this group of fungi published in the British Isles and a standard reference work for some 30–40 years. The agaric species ''Agaricus reae'', ''Cortinarius reae'', ''Entoloma reae'' and ''Hygrocybe reae'' were named after him.

Selected publications

*Amphlett, J. and Rea, C. (1909). Botany of Worcestershire. Birmingham, UK: Cornish. *Rea, C. (1909). New and rare British fungi. ''Transactions of the British Mycological Society'' 3: 124-130 *Rea, C. (1922). ''British Basidiomycetaceae. A handbook of the larger British fungi''. 799 pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Smith, A.L. & Rea, C. (1906). Fungi new to Britain. ''Transactions of the British Mycological Society'' 2: 127-131

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, Carleton English naturalists English botanists English barristers 1861 births 1946 deaths English mycologists British Mycological Society Members of the Inner Temple Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Scientists from Worcester, England 19th-century English scientists 20th-century English scientists 19th-century British botanists 20th-century British botanists