Brian Spooner (mycologist)

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Brian Martin Spooner B.Sc., Ph.D. is an English mycologist who was head of mycology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. [1]

He was born in Rochford, Essex. in 1951. He obtained his first degree in 1972 from the University of London. [2] He joined the staff at the Herbarium, Kew in 1975 to undertake a study of ascomycetes under the guidance of Dr R W G Dennis, who had retired that year. He had a long term research project on the inoperculate Discomycetes of Australia. [3] He was promoted to Higher Scientific Officer in 1979 and awarded a Ph.D. from Reading University in 1985 for his thesis "Helotiales of Australasia". [4] [5] He was appointed head of mycology in 1998. [6]

He is the author of several books and over 200 research papers. [7] His main research interest was with the discomycetes, but he also did research on other ascomycetous groups, as well as other British fungi. His work at Kew additionally included routine identifications and curation of the Ascomycetes Reference Collection. He was responsible for moving the mycology collection from the herbarium to the Jodrell Laboratory. [8]

He has participated in field expeditions and biodiversity projects in Malaysia and Australia. [8]

He regularly leads fungus forays for the British Mycological Society, on Box Hill, [9] and in Surrey. [10]

In 1990 he was honoured by a new genus named for him, Spooneromyces. [11]

He retired in 2011 after 36 years at Kew. [12]

He married Linda Strang in 1975 and lives in West Molesey.


The standard author abbreviation Spooner is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. [1]

Selected publications

Helotiales of Australasia: Geoglossaceae, Orbiliaceae, Sclerotiniaceae, Hyaloscyphaceae. Bibliotheca Mycologica, 116. Brian Spooner. 1987. Gebruder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung ISBN   9783443590178

Mushrooms: the new compact study guide and identifier. David N. Pegler, Brian Spooner, 1994. ISBN   9780785800484

British Puffballs, Earthstars and Stinkhorns; an account of the British gasteroid fungi. David N. Pegler, Brian Spooner, Thomas Læssøe. 1995. ISBN   9780947643812

Mushrooms & Toadstools of Britain and Europe. Brian Spooner. 1996. Harper Collins ISBN   9780002200073

British Chanterelles and Tooth Fungi. David N. Pegler, Peter Roberts, Brian Spooner 1997. ISBN   9781900347150

Henosepilachna argus (Geoffroy) (Coccinellidae, Epilachninae), a phytophagous ladybird new to the U.K., breeding at Molesey, Surrey. Ian S. Menzies & Brian M. Spooner. 2000. The Coleopterist 9(1) 1-4

On the unreliability of published DNA sequences. Bridge PD, Roberts PJ, Spooner BM, Panchal G. 2003. New Phytologist 160(1):43-48. doi : 10.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00861.x.

Richard William George Dennis (1910–2003): Mycologist and savant. Spooner, B. & Roberts, P. (2004). Mycological Research, 108(9), 1097-1104. doi : 10.1017/S0953756204000711

Mushrooms & Toadstools: Get to Know the Natural World (Collins Wild Guide). Brian Spooner. 2005. ISBN   9780007191505

Checklist of the British and Irish Basidiomycota. G. E. Wickens, N. W. Legon, A. Henrici, P. J. Roberts, B. M. Spooner, R. Watling, Royal Botanic Gardens. 2005. ISBN   9781842461211

Fungi (Collins New Naturalist #96). Brian Spooner, Peter Roberts. 2007. Harper Collins ISBN   9780002201520

Checklist of the British & Irish Basidiomycota. Nick Legon, Alick Henrici, Peter Roberts, Brian Spooner, Roy Watling 2014. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

J. M. Despréaux' lichens from the Canary Islands and West Africa: an account of a 19th century collection found in an English archive. Begoña Aguirre-Hudson 1, Isabella Whitworth, Brian M Spooner. 2011. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 166(2) 185–211,

Related Research Articles

References

  1. 1 2 "Spooner, Brian Martin (1951-)". International Plant Name Index.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Spooner, Brian (Retired)". Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. Archived from the original on 2012-01-20.
  3. "Review of the Work of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in 1975". Kew Bulletin. 31 (4): 859–932. 1977. JSTOR   4109571 via JSTOR.
  4. Sands, Martin J S (1986). "News of Kewites at home and abroad in 1985". Journal of the Kew Guild. 10: 476 via ISSUU.
  5. Spooner B. (1987). Helotiales of Australasia: Geoglossaceae, Orbiliaceae, Sclerotiniaceae, Hyaloscyphaceae. Bibliotheca Mycologica. Vol. 116. Lubrecht & Cramer. p. 267. ISBN   978-3443590178.
  6. "MYCOLOGY COLLECTIONS". Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. "B. M. Spooner's research while affiliated with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and other places". Research Gate.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. 1 2 "Current Kew Mycologists". Web Archive. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-01-23.
  9. "Fungus Foray". Friends of Box Hill. 13 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. "Who Are We?". Surrey Fungus Study Group.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. "Excerpts from Kew News 1990". The Journal of the Kew Guild - Events of 1990. 10: 944. 1991.
  12. Vines, Gail (2011). "A mushrooming interest". Kew Magazine. Autumn: 24.