Charles Christopher Frost (November 11, 1805 – March 16, 1880) was an American mycologist. He described several species of fungi from the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

area of the United States. In one paper, Frost described 22 new species of

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, and he was later credited with the discovery of three additional species. His personal

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

of specimens were given to the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

in 1902. Portions of his collection today are distributed between the Farlow Herbarium at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, the

New York State Museum The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, Albany, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and to ...

, the

Bell Museum of Natural History The Bell Museum, formerly known as the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, is located at the University of Minnesota's Saint Paul campus. The museum's current location on the Saint Paul campus opened in 2018. The Minnesota wildlife dioram ...

, and the Buffalo Museum of Science.

Early life

Frost was born in

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

, on November 11, 1805. His parents were shoemaker James Frost and Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of an officer in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. When he was fifteen, Frost left school after being hit with a ruler by a teacher, and assisted his father with his business. Although Frost had developed a prior interest in the natural sciences, his interest in botany grew after meeting with physician Willard Parker, who recommended Frost undertake botanical walks to alleviate the symptoms of his

dyspepsia Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier ...

. Frost started studying the

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s he encountered on these walks. He later investigated fungi, particularly the

mushrooms.

Eponymous taxa

*'' Agaricus frostianus'' Peck 1883 *'' Amanita frostiana'' Peck 1900 *'' Amanita subfrostiana'' Zhu L.Yang 1997 *'' Boletus frostii'' J.L.Russell *'' Boletus pseudofrostii'' B. Ortiz 2007 *'' Cetraria fahlunensis'' var. ''frostii'' (Tuck.) Zahlbr. 1929 *'' Cetraria hepatizon'' var. ''frostii'' (Tuck.) Räsänen 1952 *'' Diatrype frostii'' (Peck) Cooke 1886 *'' Diatrypella frostii'' Peck 1878 *'' Dirinaria frostii'' (Tuck.) Hale & W.L.Culb. 1970 *'' Frostiella'' Murrill 1942 *'' Lecanora frostii'' (Tuck.) Tuck. 1866 *'' Lycoperdon frostii'' Peck 1879 *'' Parmelia frostii'' Tuck. 1882 *'' Phyllosticta afrostyracis'' C.Moreau 1947 *'' Physcia frostii'' (Tuck.) Zahlbr. 1930 *''

Pyxine frostii ''Pyxine'' is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Caliciaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution in tropical regions. The presence or absence of the compound lichexanthone is a phenotypic trait, character used in classifying ''Pyxine ...

'' (Tuck.) Tuck. 1882 *'' Squamaria frostii'' Tuck. 1858 *'' Suillellus frostii'' (J.L.Russell) Murrill 1909 *'' Tubiporus frostii'' (J.L.Russell) Imai 1968 *'' Venenarius frostianus'' (Peck) Murrill 1913

Species described

*'' Boletus arcuatus'' Frost *'' Boletus chromapes'' Frost 1874 *'' Boletus chromopus'' Frost *'' Boletus decorus'' Frost 1874 *'' Boletus firmus'' Frost 1874 *''

Boletus griseus ''Retiboletus griseus'', commonly known as the gray bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. The species was first species description, described scientifically in 1878 by American botanist Charles Christopher Frost. It ...

'' Frost 1878 *'' Boletus innixus'' Frost 1874 *'' Boletus limatulus'' Frost 1874 *''

Boletus macrosporus ''Boletus'' is a genus of mushroom-producing fungi, comprising over 100 species. The genus ''Boletus'' was originally broadly defined and described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, essentially containing all fungi with hymenial pores instead of gills. ...

'' Frost *'' Boletus magnisporus'' Frost 1874 *'' Boletus miniato-olivaceus'' Frost 1874 *'' Boletus pallidus'' Frost 1874 *'' Boletus peckii'' Frost 1878 *'' Boletus roxanae'' Frost 1874 *'' Boletus rubens'' Frost *''

Boletus russellii ''Boletus'' is a genus of mushroom-producing fungi, comprising over 100 species. The genus ''Boletus'' was originally broadly defined and described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, essentially containing all fungi with hymenial pores instead of gills. ...

'' Frost 1878 *'' Boletus salmonicolor'' Frost 1874 *'' Boletus serotinus'' Frost 1877 *''

Boletus sordidus ''Porphyrellus sordidus'' is a bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. It was originally described in 1874 by Charles Christopher Frost as a species of ''Boletus''. Fruit bodies of the fungus have a convex to flattened cap measuring in diameter ...

'' Frost 1874 *'' Boletus speciosus'' Frost 1874 *''

Boletus submoricolor ''Boletus'' is a genus of mushroom-producing fungi, comprising over 100 species. The genus ''Boletus'' was originally broadly defined and described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, essentially containing all fungi with hymenial pores instead of gills. ...

'' Frost 1877 *'' Hygrophorus flavodiscus'' Frost 1884 *'' Hygrophorus fuligineus'' Frost 1884 *'' Polyporus morganii'' Frost 1879 *''

Russula compacta ''Russula'' is a very large genus composed of around 750 worldwide species of fungi. The genus was described by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1796. The mushrooms are fairly large, and brightly colored – making them one of the most recognizable ...

'' Frost 1879 *''

Russula flavida ''Russula flavida'' is a member of the large mushroom genus ''Russula''. Taxonomy It was described in 1880 by American botanist and mycologist Charles Christopher Frost. A variant, ''R. flavida'' var. ''dhakurianus'', was described in 2005 fr ...

'' Frost 1879 *'' Urocystis cepulae'' Frost 1877 *'' Uromyces cepulae'' Frost

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Charles C. 1805 births 1880 deaths American mycologists People from Brattleboro, Vermont