Miles Joseph Berkeley (1 April 1803 – 30 July 1889) was an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology.
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.plant pathology. Christ's College made him an honorary fellow in 1883.
He was well known as a systematist in mycology with some 6000 species of fungi being credited to him, but his ''Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany'', published in 1857, and his papers on Vegetable Pathology in the ''Gardener's Chronicle'' in 1854 and onwards, show that he had a broad grasp of the whole domain of physiology and morphology as understood in those days. Berkeley began his work as a field naturalist and collector, his earliest objects of study having been the
mollusca
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
and other branches of zoology, as testified by his papers in '' the Zoological Journal'' and the ''Magazine of Natural History'', between 1828 and 1836.
As a microscopist he was an assiduous and accurate worker, as shown by his numerous drawings of the smaller
algae
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...
and fungi, and his admirable dissections of
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
es and
Hepaticae
The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of ...
cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nb ...
, pears, coffee, onions, tomatoes, and other plants, were important in results bearing on the life-history of these pests, at a time when very little was known of such matters, and must always be considered in any historical account of the remarkable advances in the biology of these organisms made between 1850 and 1880. When it is remembered that this work was done without any of the modern appliances or training of a properly equipped laboratory, the real significance of Berkeley's pioneering work becomes apparent. It has been said that
As the founder of British mycology, his significant work is contained in the account of native British fungi in Sir
William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...
's ''British Flora'' (1836), in his ''Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany'' (1857), and in his ''Outlines of British Fungology'' (1860). His herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is one of the world's most extensive, containing over 9000 specimens as well as numerous notes and sketches.
Berkeley corresponded with Anna Maria Hussey assisting her with identifying specimens while she supplied specimens she had collected to add to his herbarium.
In 1857, Miles Joseph Berkeley was elected as member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
In June, 1879 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and was awarded their
Royal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...
in 1863.
He died at his vicarage, Sibbertoft, near Market Harborough, on 30 July 1889.
He is honoured in the naming of ''
Berkleasmium
''Berkleasmium'' is a genus of fungi belonging to the family ''Dematiaceae''.
The genus name of ''Berkleasmium'' is in honour of 2 people (Berkley and Lea), Miles Joseph Berkeley (1803 - 1889), an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of t ...
'', which is a genus of fungi belonging to the family ''
Dematiaceae
The Dermateaceae is a family of cup fungi in the order Helotiales. Most species in this family are plant pathogens but some are saprobes.
Genera
This is a list of genera in the family, based on the 2007 Outline of Ascomycota.
'' Aivenia'' &mdas ...
''.
Family
Berkeley was the father of the scientific illustrator Ruth Ellen Berkeley and named ''Agaricus ruthae'' (now known as '' Pleurotus ruthae'') for her.