Greta Barbara Stevenson (10 June 1911 – 18 December 1990) was a New Zealand

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

. She described many new species of

Agaricales The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the division (mycology), division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics (gilled mushrooms), but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are ...

(gilled

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

Background and education

Stevenson was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, the oldest of four children of William Stevenson and his wife Grace Mary Scott. William was the managing director of the canned food manufacture Irvine and Stevenson. The Stevenson family moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

in 1914, and Greta attended

Columba College Columba College is an integrated Presbyterian school in Roslyn, Otago, Roslyn, Dunedin, New Zealand. The roll is made up of pupils of all ages. The majority of pupils are in the girls' secondary, day and boarding school, but there is also a p ...

from 1925 to 1928. She later went on to the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

in 1929, from which she graduated with a BSc in 1932, and then an MSc in botany with first-class honors in 1933. Her thesis was about the life history of the rare parasitic ''

Korthalsella ''Korthalsella'' (korthal mistletoe) is a genus of flowering plants in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae (sometimes/formerly considered to be in Viscaceae). It contains about 25 species distributed in Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and s ...

''. After graduating she moved to London to attend the

Imperial College of Science and Technology Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums, ...

, where she completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, genetics, biochemistry, biochemical properties, and ethnomycology, use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, Edible ...

and

plant pathology 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 ...

. She married Edgar Cone in 1936, a research student in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

, with whom she had two children. Returning to New Zealand, while her children were young she was employed with the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Wellington, the country's capital city and List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, third-largest city by popul ...

as an analyst and a soil microbiologist for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research soil bureau. During this time she also taught science at several

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

s. Stevenson was an avid

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

, and climbed the east peak of Mount Earnslaw, then a significant accomplishment for an all-woman party. Stevenson held several appointments: Otago University; Wellington City Council;

Cawthron Institute The Cawthron Institute is New Zealand's largest independent science organisation, specialising in science that supports the environment and development within primary industries. Cawthron has its main facilities in Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson. I ...

, Nelson; Imperial College, London; Crawley College of Further Education; and King Alfred's College. Stevenson died in London on 18 December 1990, at the age of 79. In 2017, Stevenson was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "

150 women in 150 words The "150 women in 150 words" project was undertaken by the Royal Society Te Apārangi and published during their 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017. The aim of the project was "celebrating women's contributions to expanding knowledge in New Z ...

", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.

Researches in mycology

Stevenson published three books on ferns and fungi, all of which were illustrated with her own drawings. She is known for her five-part series on the

of New Zealand, published in the ''

Kew Bulletin The ''Kew Bulletin'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal on plant and fungal taxonomy and conservation published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Articles on palynology, cytology, anatomy, ...

'' between 1962 and 1964, in which she described over 100 new species. Her historically important private collection of New Zealand fungi was incorporated with those of Marie Taylor and Barbara Segedin to form the basis of the New Zealand Fungarium.

Eponymous taxa

*''Entoloma stevensoniae'' E.Horak (1980); a ''

nomen novum In biological nomenclature, a ''nomen novum'' (Latin for "new name"), replacement name (or new replacement name, new substitute name, substitute name) is a replacement scientific name that is created when technical, nomenclatural reasons have mad ...

'' for '' Entoloma niveum'' G. Stev. (1962) *'' Hygrocybe stevensoniae'' T.W.May & A.E.Wood (1995)

Selected works

*Stevenson, G. (1946–47).
The growth of a species of the genus ''Lilaeopsis'' in fresh-water reservoirs near Wellington.
' (PDF) ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' 76 (4):581–88. *___________. (1954). ''A Book of Ferns''. New York: Henry George Fiedler. 160 pp. *___________. (1954). ''Nitrogen fixation by non-nodulated plants, and by nodulated ''Coriaria arborea. ''Nature'' 182 :1523–1524. *___________. (1962)
''The Agaricales of New Zealand: I''. Boletaceae and Strobilomycetaceae.
''Kew Bulletin'' 15 (3): 381–85. *___________. (1962)
''The Agaricales of New Zealand: II''.
''Kew Bulletin'' 16 (1): 65–74. *___________. (1962)
''The Agaricales of New Zealand: III''.
''Kew Bulletin'' 16 (2): 227–37. *___________. (1963)
''The Agaricales of New Zealand: IV''.
''Kew Bulletin'' 16 (3): 373–84. *___________. (1964)
''The Agaricales of New Zealand: V''.
''Kew Bulletin'' 19 (1): 1–59. *___________. (1967). ''The Biology of Fungi, Bacteria and Viruses''. London: Edward Arnold. 202 pp. *___________. (1982). ''Field Guide to Fungi''. Canterbury: University of Canterbury. 122 pp. *___________. (1978). ''Botanical evidence linking the New Zealand Maoris with New Caledonia and the New Hebrides''. ''Nature'' 276 :704–705.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Greta 20th-century New Zealand botanists New Zealand mycologists New Zealand taxonomists 1911 births 1990 deaths Women mycologists Women taxonomists People associated with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand) People educated at Columba College People associated with the Cawthron Institute Alumni of Imperial College London 20th-century New Zealand women scientists New Zealand women botanists 20th-century New Zealand women writers Scientists from Dunedin

Background and education

Researches in mycology

Eponymous taxa

Selected works

See also

References