René Maire

René Charles Joseph Ernest Maire (1878 — 1949) was a French botanist and mycologist. His major work was the "Flore de l'Afrique du Nord" in 16 volumes published postumously in 1953. He collected plants from Algeria, Morocco, France, and Mali for the herbarium of the National Botanic Garden of Belgium. [cite web| author = National Botanic Garden of Belgium| title = Collectors for the Herbarium of the National Botanic Garden of Belgium - MAIRE| work = National Botanic Garden of Belgium website| publisher = National Botanic Garden of Belgium| date = 2007| url = http://www.br.fgov.be/RESEARCH/COLLECTIONS/HERBARIUM/listcoll.php?collectorname=Maire&submit=++Search++&searchOrigin=collectorsearch.php
accessdate =2008-03-12]

Biography

His botanical career began very early. At 18, he penned a work on the local flora of the Haute-Saône, currently on display at the Natural History Museum of Gray. He collected plants for study in Algeria and Morocco between 1902 and 1904. After obtaining his PhD in 1905, he was a professor of botany at the Faculty of Sciences in Algiers starting in 1911 where he specialised in phytopathology. 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, which he joined in 1897 at the start of his career.Fr iconcite journal |last=Fleur |first=Elie|year=1935|title=Cent ans d'activité scientifique [A hundred years of scientific activity] |journal=Bulletin de la Société d'histoire naturelle de la Moselle|volume=34|pages=p. 54] 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. His magnum opus 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
* "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" (Fr.) Maire
* "Psathyrella hydrophila" (Fr.) Maire
* "Xeromphalina campanella" (Bataille: Fr.) Maire & Kühner

He also erected the family Paxillaceae, noting its affinities with boletes, in 1902, based on anatomical similarities. [fr iconcite journal |last=Maire |first=R|year=1902|title=Recherches cytologiques et taxonomiques sur les Basidiomycetes. |journal=Bull. Soc. mycol. Fr |volume=18 |issue=supplement |pages=1–212] This was confirmed many years later by molecular studies firmly placing the genera "Paxillus" and "Gyrodon" at the base of the clade containing the members of the genus "Boletus". [cite journal |author=Kretzer A, Bruns TD |year=1999 |title=Use of atp6 in fungal phylogenetics: an example from the Boletales |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=483–92 |id= |url=http://plantbio.berkeley.edu/~bruns/ftp/kretzer1999.pdf|format=PDF |accessdate=2008-03-11 |doi=10.1006/mpev.1999.0680]

Legacy

Several species were named in his honour, including fungi such as the beechwood sickener ("Russula mairei"), René Maire's ringless Amanita ("Amanita mairei") from Egypt,cite web|last=Tulloss |first=Rodham E.| title ="Amanita mairei" Foley "René Maire's ringless Amanita" |work =Studies in the Genus "Amanita" Pers.(Agaricales, Fungi) |date =2004 |url=http://pluto.njcc.com/~ret/amanita/species/maireish.html |accessdate=2008-03-12] "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"). [Chinese plants with the same epithet were named for Edouard Ernest Maire, 19th century missionary in Yunnan, China who collected many specimens there.] The genus "Mairetis" (Boraginaceae) is also named after him.

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