René Charles Joseph Ernest Maire (; 29 May 1878, Lons-le-Saunier – 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 Meise Botanic Garden (; ), until 2014 called the National Botanic Garden of Belgium (; ), is a botanical garden located in the grounds of Bouchout Castle in Meise, Flemish Brabant, just north of Brussels. It is one of the world's largest botan ...

. and issued two exsiccatae.Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany.

Biography

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

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Frainc-Comtou: ''Hâte-Saône''; 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.

, currently on display at the Natural History Museum of

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

. He collected plants for study in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

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

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

starting in 1911 where he specialised in

phytopathology Plant pathology or phytopathology is the scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Plant pathology involves the study of pathogen identification, disease ...

. 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 ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, 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 1 (), commonly called Benyoucef Benkhedda, is a public research university based in Algiers, Algeria. Founded in 1909 from the amalgamation of different French colonial educational institutions, it has become the oldes ...

. His

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) 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, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

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'' (Fr.) Maire * '' Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca'' (Wulfen: Fr.) Maire * '' Hygrophorus reai'' Maire * '' Hypomyces vuilleminianus'' Maire * '' Laccaria bicolor'' (Maire) P.D. Orton * '' Lentinellus vulpinus'' (Fr.) Maire & Kühner * ''

Psathyrella candolleana ''Candolleomyces candolleanus'' (formerly known as ''Psathyrella candolleana'') is a species of fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. The color is tannish when young, fading to white. It is found in lawns in North America. Description The ca ...

'' (Fr.) Maire * '' Psathyrella hydrophila'' (Fr.) Maire * '' Xeromphalina campanella'' (Bataille: Fr.) Maire & Kühner He also erected the family Paxillaceae, noting its affinities with

bolete A bolete is a type of mushroom, or fungal fruiting body. It can be identified thanks to a unique cap. On the underside of the cap there is usually a spongy surface with pores, instead of the gills typical of mushrooms. A similar pore surface i ...

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 mushroom, poisonous or inedible. Species include ''Paxillus involutus'' and ''Paxillus vernalis''. Two former species—''Tapinella panuoides'' and ''Tapinella atrotomen ...

'' and '' Gyrodon'' at the base of the clade containing the members of the genus '' Boletus''.

Legacy

The

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

awarded him the Prix Montagne for 1903. Several species were named in his honour, including fungi, such as the beechwood sickener ('' Russula mairei''), '' Maireella'' (which is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of fungi in the class

Dothideomycetes Dothideomycetes is the largest and most diverse class of ascomycete fungi. It comprises 11 orders 90 families, 1,300 genera and over 19,000 known species. Wijayawardene et al. in 2020 added more orders to the class. Traditionally, most of it ...

), René Maire's ringless Amanita ('' Amanita mairei'') from Egypt, '' Clitocybe mairei'', '' Conocybe mairei'', '' Clavicorona mairei'', '' Cortinarius mairei'', '' Galerina mairei'', '' Hemimycena mairei'', and '' Lactarius mairei'', 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 Borago, borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genus, genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single famil ...

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