Lucien Quélet (; 14 July 1832 – 25 August 1899) was a French

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

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 ...

. Quélet discovered several species of

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

and was the founder of the

Société mycologique de France The Société mycologique de France (, Mycological Society of France), often known by the abbreviation SMF, is an association linking French and French-speaking mycologists. History The society was founded in 1884 in Épinal in the Vosges by ...

, a society devoted to mycological studies.

Biography

Quélet, having been born in

Montécheroux Montécheroux is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography The commune lies from Saint-Hippolyte. Population Notable person * Lucien Quélet (1832–1899) naturalist and mycolog ...

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

, was soon orphaned, and spent his childhood with and was raised by his aunts. In his youth, he is known to have shown a great interest in mycology and

botany 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 ...

in general, but also other subject areas such as

ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

malacology Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...

, the study of mollusks. He was schooled at the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

, and later studied

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. In 1884, he founded the mycological society known as the Société mycologique de France, of which he became the first president. Several years after this, in 1888, Quélet wrote a book, ''Flore mycologique de la France et des pays limitrophes'' (''Mycological flora of France and neighbouring countries''). During the last years of his life, Quélet broadened his range of study, perhaps due to eccentricity, as is claimed by some, and began to have new interests in some of the things that fascinated him as a youth – ornithology and malacology, among others. At the age of sixty-seven, Lucien Quélet died in 1899.

Legacy

Quélet has been described to be a combination of

Petter Adolf Karsten Petter Adolf Karsten (16 February 1834 – 22 March 1917) was a Finland, Finnish mycology, mycologist, the foremost expert on the fungi of Finland in his day, and known in consequence as the "father of Finnish mycology". Karsten was born in Merim ...

and

Paul Kummer Paul Kummer (22 August 1834 – 6 December 1912) was a Minister (Christianity), minister, teacher, and scientist in Zerbst, Germany, known chiefly for his contribution to mycological botanical nomenclature, nomenclature. Earlier Taxonomy (biology), ...

, as far as his conducting of his studies and on his mycological researching skills, as well as by the number of new species he was able to find. Much of Quélet's work proves useful still today, and many of the names given to some of the most common fungi can be traced to Quélet's work. Numerous

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : 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 name and ...

were named after Quélet to honor his contributions to mycology, including the species '' Amanita queletii'', '' Boletus queletii'', ''

Entoloma queletii ''Entoloma'' is a genus of fungi in the order Agaricales. Called pinkgills in English, basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are typically agaricoid (gilled mushrooms), though a minority are gasteroid. All have salmon-pink basidiospores which colour the g ...

'', ''

Russula queletii ''Russula queletii'' otherwise known as the gooseberry russula, is a common, inedible, ''Russula'' mushroom found growing in groups, predominantly in spruce forest. Eating this mushroom causes abdominal pains. Description The cap is hemispherica ...

'', and the genus ''

Queletia ''Queletia'' is a genus of fungi in the family Agaricaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Elias Magnus Fries in 1872. Fruit bodies of ''Queletia'' species are sequestrate with a thin outer skin (peridium) and a harder inner skin that breaks into ...

''. Quélet also described several species during his mycological research, such as; *''

Agaricus bitorquis ''Agaricus bitorquis'', commonly known as torq, banded agaric, spring agaric, banded agaricus, urban agaricus, or pavement mushroom, is an edible white mushroom of the genus ''Agaricus'', similar to the common button mushroom that is sold comm ...

'' *''

Amanita aspera ''Amanita franchetii'', also known as Franchet's amanita, is a species of fungus in the family Amanitaceae. Taxonomy It was given its current name by Swiss mycologist Victor Fayod in 1889 in honor of French botanist Adrien René Franchet. As ' ...

'' *''

Bondarzewia montana ''Bondarzewia'' is a widely distributed genus of fungi in the family Bondarzewiaceae. The genus was circumscribed by mycologist Rolf Singer Rolf Singer (June 23, 1906 – January 18, 1994) was a German mycologist and Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...

'' *''

Clavariadelphus truncatus ''Clavariadelphus truncatus'', commonly known as the truncate club coral, truncated club, or club coral, is a species of mushroom. It is a member of the basidiomycete fungi family Gomphaceae. Description The species has a yellow-orange fruiting ...

'' *''

Craterellus tubaeformis ''Craterellus tubaeformis'' (formerly ''Cantharellus tubaeformis'') is an edible fungus, also known as the winter chanterelle, yellowfoot, winter mushroom, or funnel chanterelle. It was reclassified from ''Cantharellus'', which has been supporte ...

'' *''

Collybia cirrhata ''Collybia cirrhata'' is a species of fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familia ...

'' *''

Lepiota aspera ''Echinoderma asperum'' or ''Lepiota aspera'', sometimes known commonly as the freckled dapperling, is a large, brownish, white-gilled mushroom, with a warty or scaly cap. It lives in woodland, or on bark chips in parks, and gardens. Taxonomy ...

'' *'' Lepiota castanea''Quelet L. (1881) ''Comptes rendu Assoc. Franc. Avanc. Sci.'' 9: 661 *'' Russula amethystina'' *''

Tricholoma pardinum ''Tricholoma pardinum'', commonly known as spotted tricholoma, tiger tricholoma, tigertop, leopard knight, or dirty trich, is a species of gilled mushroom. First officially described by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801, it has had a confus ...

'' *''

Xerocomellus armeniacus ''Rheubarbariboletus armeniacus'' is a small mushroom in the family Boletaceae native to Europe. It was formerly placed in the genera ''Boletus'', ''Xerocomus'', and ''Xerocomellus''. It acquired its current name when it was transferred to genus ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quelet, Lucien 1832 births 1899 deaths French mycologists 19th-century French biologists People from Doubs