Patricio Ponce de León (August 26, 1915 – February 26, 2010) was a Cuban

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

. He was a professor at Belen School in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...

, and later a

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

at the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He wrote a

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

on the worldwide species of the family

Geastraceae Geastrales is an order of gasterocarpic basidiomycetes (fungi) that are related to Gomphales. The order contains the families Geastraceae, which includes the "earthstars" formerly placed in Lycoperdales or Phallales, and also Schenellaceae, Sc ...

, the earthstar fungi. Ponce de León died in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Taxa described

*''

Acutocapillitium ''Acutocapillitium'' is a genus of fungi that is tentatively placed in the family Agaricaceae; its phylogenetic relationships to other genera in the family are not well known. The genus contains three species found in tropical The tropics ar ...

'' 1976 *''

Acutocapillitium portoricense ''Acutocapillitium'' is a genus of fungi that is tentatively placed in the family Agaricaceae; its phylogenetic relationships to other genera in the family are not well known. The genus contains three species found in tropical The tropics ar ...

'' 1976 *'' Bovista cacao'' 1975 *'' Geastrum furfuraceum'' 1968 *''

Geastrum victorinii ''Geastrum'' (orthographical variant ''Geaster'') is a genus of puffball-like mushrooms in the family Geastraceae. Many species are commonly known as earthstars. The name, which comes from ''geo'' meaning ''earth'' and meaning ''star'', refers ...

'' 1946 *'' Morganella stercoraria'' 1971

Selected publications

*Ponce de León P. (1968)
"A revision of the Family Geastraceae".
''Fieldiana: Botany'' 31 (14): 303–352. *Ponce de León P. (1969)
"A new member of ''Morganella''".
''Fieldiana: Botany'' 32 (6): 69–71. *Ponce de León P. (1970)
"Revision of the genus ''Vascellum'' (Lycoperdaceae)".
''Fieldiana: Botany'' 32 (9):109–126. *Ponce de León P. (1971)
"Revision of the genus ''Morganella'' (Lycoperdaceae)."
''Fieldiana: Botany'' 34 (3):27–44. *Ponce de León P. (1975)
"Notes on ''Calvatia'' (Lycoperdaceae), I".
''Fieldiana: Botany'' 38 (1):1–3. *Ponce de León P. (1976)
"''Acutocapillitium'', a new genus in the Lycoperdaceae".
''Fieldiana: Botany'' 38 (4):23–29. *Ponce de León P. (1976)
"Notes on ''Calvatia'' (Lycoperdaceae), II : ''Calvatia cretacea'' (Berk.) Lloyd, an Arctic montane plant".
''Fieldiana: Botany'' 38 (3):15–22. * Singer R, Ponce de León P. (1983). "Sister Mary Cecilia Bodman, 1905–1982". ''Mycologia'' 75 (5):932–933. *Smith CW, Ponce de León P. (1982). "Hawaiian geastroid fungi". ''Mycologia'' 74 (5):712–717. *Singer R, Ponce de León P, Machol RE. (1984). "(42-44) Three Proposals to Amend the Code". ''Taxon'' 33 (4):745–47.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponce De Leon, Patricio 1915 births 2010 deaths Mycologists Scientists from Chicago Cuban emigrants to the United States