Charles Christopher Frost (November 11, 1805 – March 16, 1880) was an American mycologist. He described several species of fungi from the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

area of the United States. In one paper, Frost described 22 new species of

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 surf ...

s, and he was later credited with the discovery of three additional species. His personal herbarium of specimens were given to the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

in 1902. Portions of his collection today are distributed between the Farlow Herbarium at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, the

New York State Museum The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and towards the New York State Capitol ...

, the

Bell Museum of Natural History The Bell Museum, formerly known as the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, is located at the University of Minnesota. The museum's new location on the St. Paul campus opened July 13–15, 2018. The world-renowned Minnesota wildlife dioram ...

, and the Buffalo Museum of Science.

Early life

Frost was born in

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about ...

, on November 11, 1805. His parents were shoemaker James Frost and Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of an officer in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. When he was fifteen, Frost left school after being hit with a ruler by a teacher, and assisted his father with his business. Although Frost had developed a prior interest in the natural sciences, his interest in botany grew after meeting with physician Willard Parker, who recommended Frost undertake botanical walks to alleviate the symptoms of his

dyspepsia Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier ...

. Frost started studying the mosses and lichens he encountered on these walks. He later investigated fungi, particularly the

mushrooms.

Eponymous taxa

*'' Agaricus frostianus'' Peck 1883 *''

Amanita frostiana ''Amanita frostiana'', also known as Frost's amanita, is a small fungus species of eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada. The mushroom varies in colours from yellow, red or reddish pink usually. Description Some of the species' notable physic ...

'' Peck 1900 *'' Amanita subfrostiana'' Zhu L.Yang 1997 *'' Boletus frostii'' J.L.Russell *'' Boletus pseudofrostii'' B. Ortiz 2007 *'' Cetraria fahlunensis'' var. ''frostii'' (Tuck.) Zahlbr. 1929 *'' Cetraria hepatizon'' var. ''frostii'' (Tuck.) Räsänen 1952 *'' Diatrype frostii'' (Peck) Cooke 1886 *'' Diatrypella frostii'' Peck 1878 *'' Dirinaria frostii'' (Tuck.) Hale & W.L.Culb. 1970 *'' Frostiella'' Murrill 1942 *'' Lecanora frostii'' (Tuck.) Tuck. 1866 *'' Lycoperdon frostii'' Peck 1879 *'' Parmelia frostii'' Tuck. 1882 *'' Phyllosticta afrostyracis'' C.Moreau 1947 *'' Physcia frostii'' (Tuck.) Zahlbr. 1930 *'' Pyxine frostii'' (Tuck.) Tuck. 1882 *'' Squamaria frostii'' Tuck. 1858 *'' Suillellus frostii'' (J.L.Russell) Murrill 1909 *'' Tubiporus frostii'' (J.L.Russell) Imai 1968 *'' Venenarius frostianus'' (Peck) Murrill 1913

Species described

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Charles C. 1805 births 1880 deaths American mycologists People from Brattleboro, Vermont