Józef Motyka (23 March 1900 – 6 July 1984) was a Polish

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 lichenologist.

Early live and education

Motyka was born on 23 March 1900 in

Kąclowa Kąclowa is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Grybów, within Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south of Grybów, east of Nowy Sącz, and south-east of the regional capital K ...

. He obtained his

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 ...

in 1925 at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

for his studies on the ecology of saxicolous lichens (growing on or living among rocks) in Europe.

Early career

Afterwards, he spent several years researching the large lichen genus ''

Usnea ''Usnea'' is a genus of fruticose lichens in the large family Parmeliaceae. The genus, which currently contains roughly 130 species, was established by Michel Adanson in 1763. Species in the genus grow like leafless mini-shrubs or tassels anch ...

'', culminating in the publication of a two-volume

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

during 1936–1938. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was employed in the Botanical Garden in

Lwow Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. In 1944 he returned to his birthplace,

, and began teaching at the Gymnasium in nearby

Grybów Grybów (, ''Hrybiv''; , ''Grynberk''; , ''Gribuv''),Prof. Maria Malec. ''Słownik nazw geograficznych Polski.'' 2003. WN PWN. 2007. .Prof. Stanisław Rospond. ''Słownik Etymologiczny Miast i Gmin.'' Ossolineum. Wrocław. 1984. . is a town in th ...

. A year later Motyka was appointed as Director of the Plant Geography and Systematics department at the

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (MCSU) (, UMCS) is a public research university, in Lublin, Poland. It is named in honour of Marie Curie-Sklodowska. The University was founded on October 23, 1944, by the Lublin Committee during the Second W ...

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

, and soon after became an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

. For the next decade he worked largely on the distribution and ecology of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignin, lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified Ti ...

Publications

Returning to work on lichens in the mid-1950s, Motyka studied Poland's lichen flora and published papers on the families

Parmeliaceae The Parmeliaceae is a large and diverse family of Lecanoromycetes. With over 2700 species in 71 genera, it is the largest family of lichen-forming fungi. The most speciose genera in the family are the well-known groups: '' Xanthoparmelia'' ( 82 ...

Cladoniaceae The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Lecanorales, comprising about 560 species distributed amongst 18 genera. This family is one of the largest among lichen-forming fungi and is globally distributed, from Arctic t ...

Acarosporaceae The Acarosporaceae are a family of fungi in the order Acarosporales. Members of this family have a widespread distribution, and are mostly lichenized with green algae. According to a 2021 estimate, the family contains 11 genera and about 260 spe ...

Umbilicariaceae The Umbilicariaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the Ascomycota. Species of this family are known from a variety of climates, including temperate, boreal, austral, and warmer montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of moun ...

, and

Thelocarpaceae Thelocarpaceae is the sole family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Thelocarpales. The family contains two genera, '' Sarcosagium'' and '' Thelocarpon''. The family was circumscribed by lichenologist Hugo Zukal in 1893, while the order was pr ...

. He became a full Professor in 1960. He eventually published a total of four textbooks, six monographs, 54 papers, and two general-audience books. Motyka's draft manuscripts on the lecanoroid lichens were published posthumously in 1995–1996 by his daughter Maria Motyka-Zgłobicka and J. Sieminska, in a four-volume work titled ''Lecanoraceae''. This massive work introduced more than 220 new species, and over 300

new combination In Taxonomy (biology), biological taxonomy, a combinatio nova (abbreviated comb. nov. or n. comb.) refers to the formal renaming of an organism's scientific name when it is transferred to a different genus, reclassified within a different specie ...

s. However, there were several problems in Motyka's text, such as the use of outdated generic concepts, little discussion of why

taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

decisions were made, and omissions of important information for many of the newly described species. For these reasons,

Helge Thorsten Lumbsch Helge Thorsten Lumbsch (born 1964) is a German-born lichenology, lichenologist living in the United States. His research interests include the phylogeny, taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, and phylogeography of lichen-forming fungi; lichen diversity; ...

and colleagues made a formal proposal to consider this work ''

opera utique oppressa This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

''—a suppressed work that is not taxonomically valid.

Recognition

Motyka was awarded the

Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, ...

and

Golden Cross of Merit Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

for his academic work.

Eponymous species

Several lichens have been named in honor of Józef Motyka: *''

Alectoria motykae Alectoria may refer to: * ''Alectoria'' (fungus), a genus of lichenized fungi * ''Alectoria'' (insect), a monotypic genus of bush crickets or katydids in the subfamily Phaneropterinae * ''Alectoria'', a genus of birds in the family Phasianidae; syn ...

'' D.Hawksw. *''

Alectoria motykana Alectoria may refer to: * ''Alectoria'' (fungus), a genus of lichenized fungi * ''Alectoria'' (insect), a monotypic genus of bush crickets or katydids in the subfamily Phaneropterinae * ''Alectoria'', a genus of birds in the family Phasianidae; syn ...

'' Bystrek *''

Ramalina motykana ''Ramalina'' is a genus of greenish fruticose lichens that grow in the form of flattened, strap-like branches. Members of the genus are commonly called strap lichensField Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 201 ...

'' Bystrek *'' Usnea motykae'' Räsänen *'' Usnea motykana'' Bystrek & Wójciak

References