Lucien Quélet in 1869 Lucien Quélet (14 July 1832 – 25 August 1899) was a French naturalist and

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

. Quélet discovered several species of

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 fr ...

and was the founder 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 t ...

, a society devoted to mycological studies. Quélet, having been born in Montécheroux,

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

, was soon orphaned, and spent his childhood with and was raised by his aunts. In his youth, he is known to have shown a great interest in mycology and

botany 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 w ...

in general, but also other subject areas such as

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and t ...

and

malacology Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

, the study of mollusks. He was schooled at the

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

, and later studied

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

. In 1884, he founded the mycological society known as the Société mycologique de France, of which he became the first president. Several years after this, in 1888, Quélet wrote a book, ''Flore mycologique de la France et des pays limitrophes'' (''Mycological flora of France and neighbouring countries''). Quélet also described several species during his mycological research. Some are listed below: *''

Agaricus bitorquis ''Agaricus bitorquis'' is an edible white mushroom of the genus ''Agaricus'', similar to the common button mushroom that is sold commercially. The name supersedes ''Agaricus rodmani''. It is also commonly known as torq, the banded agaric, spring ...

'' *'' Amanita aspera'' *'' Bondarzewia montana'' *'' Clavariadelphus truncatus'' *'' Craterellus tubaeformis'' *'' Collybia cirrhata'' *'' Lepiota aspera'' *'' Lepiota castanea''Quelet L. (1881) ''Comptes rendu Assoc. Franc. Avanc. Sci.'' 9: 661 *'' Russula amethystina'' *''

Tricholoma pardinum ''Tricholoma pardinum'', commonly known as spotted tricholoma, tiger tricholoma, tigertop, leopard knight, or dirty trich, is a gilled mushroom widely distributed across North America, Europe, and parts of Asia. It is generally found in beech ...

'' *'' Xerocomellus armeniacus'' Numerous

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

were named after Quélet to honor his contributions to mycology, including the species '' Amanita queletii'', '' Boletus queletii'', '' Entoloma queletii'', '' Russula queletii'', and the genus '' Queletia''. Quélet has been described to be a combination of

Petter Adolf Karsten Petter Adolf Karsten (16 February 1834 – 22 March 1917) was a Finnish mycologist, the foremost expert on the fungi of Finland in his day, and known in consequence as the "father of Finnish mycology". Karsten was born in Merimasku near Turku, s ...

and Paul Kummer, as far as his conducting of his studies and on his mycological researching skills, as well as by the number of new species he was able to find. Much of Quélet's work proves useful still today, and many of the names given to some of the most common fungi can be traced to Quélet's work. During the last years of his life, Quélet broadened his range of study, perhaps due to eccentricity, as is claimed by some, and began to have new interests in some of the things that fascinated him as a youth –

and

, among others. At the age of sixty-seven, Lucien Quélet died in 1899.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quelet, Lucien 1832 births 1899 deaths French mycologists 19th-century French biologists People from Doubs