Carlo Luigi Spegazzini, in Spanish Carlos Luis Spegazzini (20 April 1858 – 1 July 1926), was an Italian-born Argentinian botanist 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 w ...

. On the 1881/1882 expedition led by Giacomo Bove to explore

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and ...

and

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

, the Italian

Decio Vinciguerra Decio Vinciguerra (23 May 1856 – 5 October 1934) was an Italian physician and ichthyologist who for many years was Director of the Aquarium of Rome. Early years Decio Vinciguerra was born in Genoa on 23 May 1856. He studied at the University of ...

was officially both zoologist and botanist, but in fact Spegazzini handled the botanical work. Spegazzini published about 100 scientific papers on

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

s, describing around 1000 new taxa. He was a professor at the

University of La Plata The La Plata National University ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) is one of the most important Argentina, Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It h ...

and Buenos Aires in Argentina, curator of the herbarium of the National Department of Agriculture, first head of the herbarium of

Museo de la Plata The La Plata Museum ( es, Museo de la Plata) is a natural history museum in La Plata, Argentina. It is part of the (Natural Sciences School) of the UNLP (National University of La Plata). The building, long, today houses 3 million fossils and ...

, and founder of an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, m ...

and an institute of mycology in La Plata city. In 1924 he edited the journal ''Revista Argentina de Botánica'', but only four issues were published before his death. In a 1924 ''

Mycologia ''Mycologia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes papers on all aspects of the fungi A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as ...

'' publication,

William Murrill William Alphonso Murrill (October 13, 1869 – December 25, 1957) was an American mycologist, known for his contributions to the knowledge of the Agaricales and Polyporaceae. In 1904, he became the assistant Curator at the New York Botanical ...

recounted his time visiting with Spegazzini, who was then 66 years old:

Dr Spegazzini is an old man, but strong in body, young in thought, and still full of the spirit of adventure. He has just returned from Tierra del Fuego, is planning to go to Europe next year, and promises me to come to the United States the following year 'if nothing happens'. He was born in a village in Italy and was a student of the fungi there before coming to Argentina. He has described a great many South American plants in various groups but his work is poorly known elsewhere and few of his specimens have been seen by other botanists. ... The Doctor is exceedingly genial in manner and very kind hearted. He and his son stayed with me all day long, showing me specimens, photographs and publications; giving me anything I wanted for our herbarium; taking me out to a sportsman's club for lunch; visiting the museum; and going on a short collecting trip in the woods. We talked French, German, English, Latin and Spanish indiscriminately and recklessly, keeping up a continuous flow of conversation lest our ignorance in certain languages be discovered.

The

International Plant Names Index The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inc ...

has more than 2,700 records for plant names of which he is either the author, a co-author or involved in the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both bota ...

. He is also honoured in the naming of several taxa including; * '' Spegazzinia'' a genus of

fungi A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

in the Apiosporaceae family by Pier Andrea Saccardo in 1880. * ''Spegazzinites'', a genus of fungi, by J.Félix in 1894, * ''Spegazzinia'' by Backeb. in 1933, a genus of cactus which is a synonym of ''

Rebutia ''Rebutia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cactaceae, native to Bolivia and Argentina. They are generally small, colorful cacti, globular in form, which freely produce flowers that are relatively large in relation to the body. They ...

'', * '' Neospegazzinia'' by Petr. & Syd. in 1936 (genus of Fungi), * ''Carlosia'' by G.Sampaio in 1923, now a synonym of ''

Thelomma ''Thelomma'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Caliciaceae. The genus is widely distributed and contains seven species. ''Thelomma'' was circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a ci ...

, * '' Spegazziniella'' by Bat. & I.H.Lima in 1959 (genus of fungi), Schizothyriaceae family, * '' Spegazziniophytum'' by Esser in 2001 (genus of plant in

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...

family).

References

Other sources

* * *

External links

biographical sketch
with image
Type material of Carlos L. Spegazzini in the Museo de La Plata Herbarium (LP), Argentina. III: Cactaceae
''Darwinian'' 42

''Tuatara'' 18(2) {{DEFAULTSORT:Spegazzini, Carlos Luigi 1858 births 1926 deaths National University of La Plata faculty Italian emigrants to Argentina Italian mycologists 19th-century Argentine botanists People from the Province of Turin Argentine mycologists Burials at La Plata Cemetery 20th-century Argentine botanists