Martin Beazor Ellis (14 September 1911,

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

– 8 June 1996) was a British mycologist, known as a leading expert on the taxonomy of pigmented

hyphomycete Hyphomycetes are a form classification of fungi, part of what has often been referred to as fungi imperfecti, Deuteromycota, or anamorphic fungi. Hyphomycetes lack closed fruit bodies, and are often referred to as moulds (or molds). Most hyphom ...

s. He was the president of the British Mycological Society for the academic year 1973–1974.

Biography

Martin B. Ellis was the younger brother of Ted Ellis, who became a well-known naturalist with a focus on The Broads. The Ellis family originated in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, relocated to Guernsey, and returned to England to settle in 1920 in Gorleston-on-Sea. Martin and Ted Ellis often worked together and were keen amateur naturalists in Guernsey and later in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

. Martin's mother taught him to draw and paint in watercolours. After education at Great Yarmouth Grammar School, Martin Ellis worked for three years as an apprentice in Great Yarmouth and then matriculated in 1933 at the

University of London 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 degree ...

but lived at home and travelled back and forth. He then studied at

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

's University Technical College Norfolk and became a laboratory assistant there. He passed the qualifying examination in 1935 to gain an Inter B.Sc. qualification from the University of London. He then worked until 1936 at University Technical College Norfolk before moving to London and studying mycology and botany for 2 years at Chelsea Polytechnic (affiliated with the University of London). In 1938 he passed his final examinations with 1st class honours. After a year at Chelsea Polytechnic, where he worked as a botanical researcher, demonstrator, lecturer, and private academic coach, he enlisted in October 1939 in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

(RAMC). He was sent to

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and posted to the District Laboratory at

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

, where he worked until 1942. Due to his contributions to research on ''

Shigella ''Shigella'' is a genus of bacteria that is Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, non-spore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped, and genetically closely related to ''E. coli''. The genus is named after Kiyoshi Shiga, who first discovered it in 1897. ...

'', Ellis became a commissioned officer. He was given the rank of Captain and posted to Calcutta. There he created an inspection unit for medical stores and was made the officer in charge of the unit. After passing examinations in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Indian Army Ordnance Corps The Army Ordnance Corps (abbreviated as AOC) is an active corps of the Indian Army and a major formation responsible for providing material and logistical support to the Indian Army during war and peace. History Pre-independence The history of ...

. In August 1943 he was stationed to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and put in charge of British India's largest inspection depot. During his army service from 1943 to 1945, he organized collecting forays or collected by himself. He travelled in the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

, and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. He collected

microfungi Microfungi or micromycetes are fungi—eukaryotic organisms such as molds, mildews and rusts—which have microscopic spore-producing structures. They exhibit tube tip-growth and have cell walls composed of chitin, a polymer of ''N''-acetylglucosa ...

for himself and

polypore Polypores are a group of fungi that form large fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside (see Delimitation for exceptions). They are a morphological group of basidiomycetes-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi, and not all polypor ...

s for

Sahay Ram Bose Sahay Ram Bose ( bn, সহায়রাম বসু; 15 February 1888 – 1970) was an Indian botanist known for his pioneering work in the study of bracket fungi and the discovery of antibiotics Polysporin and Campestrin. In a research c ...

. After the end of WW II, Ellis returned to England. At the

Commonwealth Mycological Institute A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

he held an appointment as Mycologist from 1946 to 1960 and as Principal Mycologist from 1960 to 1976, when he retired. His successor as Principal Mycologist was Brian Charles Sutton. At the institute, Ellis worked with Edmund William Mason (1890–1975),

Stanley John Hughes Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

(1918–2019), and

Guy Richard Bisby Guy Richard Bisby (1889–1958) was an American Canadian mycologist and botanist in plant pathology. He spent his early career working as a professor at the University of Minnesota and University of Manitoba in plant pathology, and his late ca ...

(1889–1958). In

Chatham, Kent Chatham ( ) is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The town developed around Chatham ...

, in September 1948, Martin B. Ellis married Janet Pamela "Pam" Morgan. She graduated in 1940 with a degree in general science from the University of Reading and in 1946 with a Diploma in systematic mycology mentored by Charles Geddes Coull Chesters (1904–1993), a professor of botany at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

. She met Martin Ellis during collecting forays. They spent their honeymoon collecting fungi on the island of Guernsey and the results of their research was published in ''Report and Transaction of la Société Guernesiaise''. Martin and Pam Ellis collaborated in mycological research until his death in 1996 and wrote several books together. The two superbly illustrated books ''Dematiaceous Hyphomycetes'' (1971) and ''More Dematiaceous Hyphomycetes'' (1976), both published by the

, were based on a series of articles published in ''Mycological Papers''. The two books have essential importance for the science of

dematiaceous “Black yeasts”, sometimes also black fungi, dematiaceous fungi, microcolonial fungi or meristematic fungi is a diverse group of slow-growing microfungi which reproduce mostly asexually (fungi imperfecti). Only few genera reproduce by budding ...

hyphomycetes (a diverse group of microfungi sometimes called black yeasts or black molds) in identification and taxonomy. In retirement, Martin and Pam Ellis moved to Southwold in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, where they began collecting, describing and illustrating microfungi, especially from

. Their research was presented in three identification handbooks, ''Microfungi on Land Plants'' (1985),''Microfungi on Miscellaneous Substrates'' (1988), and ''Fungi without Gills'' (1990). The three books were extremely useful for amateur mycologists in the UK and led to a huge increase in the number of species of fungi newly recorded in

. More than 30 species names honour Martin Ellis with derivations from his surname. The genera ''Ellisembia'' Subram. and ''Martinellisia'' V. G. Rao & Varghese are also named in his honour. Martin Ellis communicated his enthusiasm for the study of fungi and appreciation of nature to many mycologists and gained wide esteem. The mycologists T. R. Nag Raj and Bryce Kendrick dedicated ''A Monograph of Cholera and Allied Genera'' with the ''laudatio'' "prince of a man and peerless mycologist, Dr. Martin B. Ellis". Upon his death he was survived by his widow and their sons. The

Natural History Museum, London 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 an ...

has some of the specimens collected by M. B. Ellis.

Books

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abstract
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description at CABI Digital Library
* * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Martin Beazor 1911 births 1996 deaths Alumni of the University of London Royal Army Medical Corps officers British mycologists British taxonomists Presidents of the British Mycological Society