Jack Rodney Laundon (28 July 1934 – 31 December 2016) was a British lichenologist and became president of the
British Lichen Society.
Education and personal life
Jack Rodney Laundon was born 28 July 1934 in
Kettering
Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...
, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Park Road School, Kettering Central School and
Kettering Grammar School, and then worked at the
British Museum (Natural History)
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and ...
from 1952–1990, mainly in the lichen section.
He married Rita June Bransby in 1958 and they had one daughter. He died 31 December 2016.
Career
He was interested in
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 ...
from his teens, and developed his interests in lichen ecology and taxonomy as well as the specimen curation and identification required by his post. This included curating the collection of specimens from
Erik Acharius
Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish botanist who pioneered the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of lichens and is known as the "father of lichenology". Acharius was famously the last pupil of Carl Linnaeus.
Life
Ac ...
held at the museum.
Laundon was known for his research on the lichen flora of London, methodically relating species distributions to both current and historical levels of air pollution.
He helped establish the use of
chemotaxonomy
Merriam-Webster defines ''chemotaxonomy'' as the method of biological classification based on similarities and dissimilarity in the structure of certain compounds among the organisms being classified. Advocates argue that, as proteins are more c ...
for lichens at the museum and was active in verifying specimens sent to the museum. His application of the ''International Code of Botanical Nomenclature'' was sometimes controversial and led to changes in the code so that species names could be proposed for retention.
His work in lichen nomenclature was so influential that colleagues coined the term "Jacked" to describe any well-known species that underwent a name change due to his research.
He published over 150 articles and several books during his career. These included a popular book ''Lichens
'' (1986, 2001) illustrated with his own photographs. In 1956 he published a survey of the lichens of Northamptonshire, and was the first to apply the Scandinavian method of lichen communities to the UK.
In 1960 his observation of ''Lecidea'' (now ''
Placynthiella'') ''oligotropha'' in Northamptonshire was published. His surveys of the lichens of London in the late 1960s were the first to map species distributions relative to atmospheric
sulphur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...
levels.
His records from gravestones demonstrated that lichen communities were retained on old memorials but did not colonise new ones. He continued to record and publish about lichen distributions until 2012, showing that lichens returned once sulphur dioxide levels fell.
Laundon was a founder member of the
British Lichen Society. He participated in the inaugural meeting at the British Museum on 1 February 1958 where the society was established. In 1955, he had already played a role in the development of lichenology in Britain by recommending
Arthur Wade as a suitable leader for the first lichen field courses at
Malham Tarn Field Studies Centre.
He was president of the society in 1984–1985, having been editor of the ''British Lichen Society Bulletin'' from 1963 until 1979, and honorary secretary from 1964–1984.
During his editorship, Laundon expanded the ''Bulletin'' from a single-page newsletter into a substantive publication featuring lead articles, photographs, and information about
conservation, gradually increasing it to about twenty pages.
He was elected as honorary member of the society in 1988, and received the Ursula Duncan Award in recognition of his services to the British Lichen Society in 2007.
He edited
The London Naturalist' from 1971 until 1979 and the
Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Botany Series' from 1977 until 1990. He was a life member of th
Museums Association and was awarded a Fellowship of the Association in 1972.
He was required to retire in 1990 as part of restructuring at the museum as it moved away from taxonomy,
but he continued to be very active with lichens and Northamptonshire local history, including authoring several publications, until mid-December 2016, shortly before his death.
Legacy
Laundon was a foundational contributor to the journal ''
The Lichenologist'', publishing in its inaugural volume in 1958. During the British Lichen Society's formative years, he served as editor of the ''BLS Bulletin'' while his colleague
Peter Wilfred James
Peter Wilfred James (1930–2014) was an English botanist and lichenologist. He was a pioneer in the study of lichens as environmental indicators, especially of atmospheric pollution.
Early life and education
Peter W. James grew up in Sutton Co ...
edited ''The Lichenologist''. As a taxonomist at the Natural History Museum, Laundon specialised in challenging lichen groups that received less attention from other researchers, particularly focusing on sterile
crustose lichen
Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...
s. His contributions to the journal and society helped establish both as important institutions in lichenology, supporting the field's development during a period when English-language resources on lichens were limited.
The lichen ''
Lepraria jackii'' was named in his honour in 1992, and the
lichen product
Lichen products, also known as lichen substances, are organic compounds produced by a lichen. Specifically, they are secondary metabolites. Lichen products are represented in several different chemical classes, including terpenoids, orcinol deri ...
s jackinic acid and norjackinic acid were described in 1995 and named after him.
Other
eponym
An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
s include ''
Phoma laundoniae'',
''
Camposporium laundonii'',
and ''
Puccinia laundonii''.
Laundon has been credited for introducing the term in a 1995 publication,
in an attempt to clarify what he thought were inadequate terms available to describe the range of fungal-algal interactions in the lichen symbiosis.
Trees were planted in his memory by the Kettering and District Natural History Society at
Twywell Hills and Dales in November 2019
At the Natural History Museum
At the British Museum (Natural History), Laundon was known as an approachable and helpful presence in the lichen section. Alongside Peter James, he created what many regarded as the spiritual home of British lichenology, where both professional and amateur lichenologists could receive assistance with specimen identification. Visitors to the museum would be welcomed and provided with desk space to consult collections or have their specimens examined. Laundon's friendly demeanour and willingness to help contributed significantly to the museum's reputation as a central hub for lichenological studies in Britain. He regularly participated in British Lichen Society field meetings, sometimes bringing his family.
Selected publications
Some of Laundon's publications include:
*Laundon, J. R. (2010
''Lecanora antiqua'', a new saxicolous species from Great Britain, and the nomenclature and authorship of ''L. albescens'', ''L. conferta'' and ''L. muralis''.''Lichenologist'' 42 6 631-636
*Laundon, J. R. (2008
Some synonyms in ''Chrysothrix'' and ''Lepraria''.''Lichenologist'' 40 5 411-414
*Laundon, J. R. (2005
The publication and typification of Sir James Edward Smith's lichens in English Botany.''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' 147 4 483-499
*Laundon, J. R. (2003) Six lichens of the ''Lecanora varia'' group. ''Nova Hedwiga'' 76 1-2 83-111
*Roos, M and Laundon, J. R. (1995) On the Classification of lichen photomorphs. ''Taxon'' 44 3 387-389
*Elix, J.A., Naidu, R. and Laundon, J. R. (1994) The structure and synthesis of 4-oxypannaric acid 2-methyl ester, a dibenzofuran from the lichen ''Leproloma diffusum''. ''Australian Journal of Chemistry'' 47 4 703-714
*Laundon, J. R. (1992
''Lepraria'' in the British Isles.''Lichenologist'' 24 4 315-350
*Diamantopoulos, I., Pirintsos, S., Laundon, J.R. and Vokou, D. (1992
The epiphytic lichens around Thessaloniki (Greece) as indicators of sulfur dioxide pollution.''Lichenologist'' 24 1 63-71
*Laundon, J. R. (1989
The species of Leproloma - the name for the Lepraria-Membranacea group.''Lichenologist'' 21 1 1-22
*Laundon, J. R. (1984
The typification of Withering neglected lichens.''Lichenologist'' 16 3 211-239
*Jones, D., Wilson, M.J. and Laundon, J. R. (1982
Observations on the location and form of lead in ''Stereocaulon vesuvianum'' ''Lichenologist'' 14 3 281-286
*Laundon, J. R. (1981
The species of ''Chrysothrix''.''Lichenologist'' 13 2 101-121
*Laundon, J. R. (1979
Deceased lichenologists - their abbreviations and herbaria ''Lichenologist'' 11 1 1-26
*Laundon, J. R. (1978
''Haematomma'' chemotypes form fused thalli.''Lichenologist'' 10 2 221-225
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laundon, Jack
1934 births
2016 deaths
20th-century British botanists
British lichenologists
Employees of the Natural History Museum, London
People from Kettering
20th-century British male writers
21st-century British male writers
British male non-fiction writers
21st-century British non-fiction writers
20th-century British non-fiction writers