David Norman Pegler (born 2 November 1938) is a British

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 ...

. Until his retirement in 1998, he served as the Head of Mycology and assistant keeper of the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant 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 sheet of paper (calle ...

at the Royal Botanic Gardens in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

. Pegler received his

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

in 1960, thereafter studying tropical

Agaricales The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms (for their distinctive gills) or euagarics, contains some of the most familiar types of mushrooms. The order has 33 extant families, 413 genera, and over 13,000 described species, a ...

with R.W.G. Dennis as his graduate supervisor. He earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in 1966, and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

in 1974 (both from London University). His graduate thesis was on

agaric An agaric () is a type of fungus fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. In the UK, agarics are called "mushroo ...

s of east Africa, later published as ''A preliminary agaric flora of East Africa'' in 1977. In 1989, London University awarded him a DSc for his research into the Agaricales. A fungal genus ''

Pegleromyces ''Pegleromyces'' is a genus of fungi in the family Tricholomataceae. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species ''Pegleromyces collybioides'', found in Brazil, and described as new to science by mycologist Rolf Singer in 1981. Th ...

'' (family

Tricholomataceae The Tricholomataceae are a large family of mushrooms within the Agaricales. Originally a classic " wastebasket taxon", the family included any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to e.g. t ...

) published in 1981 by

Rolf Singer Rolf Singer (June 23, 1906 – January 18, 1994) was a German-born mycologist and one of the most important taxonomists of gilled mushrooms (agarics) in the 20th century. After receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Vienna in 1931 he worked ...

, then genera ''

Peglerochaete ''Peglerochaete'' is a genus of fungi in the family Tricholomataceae. This is a monotypic genus, containing the single species ''Peglerochaete setiger'', found in the Indian state Sikkim and reported as new to science in 1983. The genus nam ...

'' from India, (also in the family Tricholomataceae) by Sarwal & Locq. in 1983, and also several other fungal

taxa In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

have been named in his honour: *''

Cuphophyllus pegleri ''Cuphophyllus'' is a genus of agaric fungi in the family Hygrophoraceae. ''Cuphophyllus'' species belong to a group known as waxcaps in English, sometimes also waxy caps in North America or waxgills in New Zealand. In Europe, ''Cuphophyllus' ...

'' Lodge 1999 *''

Deconica pegleriana ''Deconica pegleriana'' is a species of mushroom in the family Strophariaceae. It can be found in Mexico, Thailand, India, Papua New Guinea, the Southeastern United States and South America South America is a continent entirely in the W ...

'' (Guzmán) Ram.-Cruz & Guzmán 2012 *'' Endogone pegleri'' Y.J.Yao 1995 *''

Entoloma pegleri ''Entoloma'' is a large genus of terrestrial pink-gilled mushrooms, with about 1,000 species. Most have a drab appearance, pink gills which are attached to the stem, a smooth thick cap, and angular spores. Many entolomas are saprobic but ...

'' Courtec. 1984 *'' Favolaschia pegleri'' Parmasto 1999 *''

Inocybe pegleri ''Inocybe'' is a large genus of mushroom-forming fungi with over 1400 species, including all forms and variations. Members of ''Inocybe'' are mycorrhizal, and some evidence shows that the high degree of speciation in the genus is due to adaptati ...

'' Sarwal 1983 *'' Inonotus pegleri'' Ryvarden 1975 *'' Lactarius pegleri'' Pacioni & Lalli 1992 *'' Marasmius pegleri'' Courtec. 1984 *'' Melanospora pegleri'' D.Hawksw. & A.Henrici 1999 *''Rhodocybe pegleri'' T.J.Baroni 1999 (now '' Clitocybe pegleri'') Pegler has published more than 250 research papers and several books, largely on fungal

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic t ...

. He was senior editor of the scientific journal ''

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 ...

'' from 1987 to 1993.

Selected publications

* * *

References

1938 births British mycologists Alumni of the University of London Living people {{Mycologist-stub

Selected publications

See also

References