Arthur Disbrowe Cotton was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 plant pathologist, mycologist

Mycology

Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a source for tinder, medicinals , food and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or...

, phycologist

Phycology

Phycology is the scientific study of algae. Phycology is a branch of life science and often is regarded as a subdiscipline of botany....

, and botanist

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

.

A.D. Cotton was born in London and educated at King's College School

King's College School

King's College School, commonly referred to as KCS, King's, or KCS Wimbledon, is an independent school for day pupils in Wimbledon in south-west London. The school was founded as the junior department of King's College London and occupied part of its premises in Strand, before relocating to...

 and the Royal College of Science

Royal College of Science

The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Alumni include H. G. Wells and Brian May and are distinguishable by the letters ARCS ...

, where he completed a degree in botany in 1901. He became a demonstrator there and subsequently at Owens College, Manchester, where he developed an interest in fungi, undertaking research into orchid mycorrhizas.

In 1904 he was appointed assistant to George Massee

George Edward Massee

George Edward Massee was an English mycologist, plant pathologist, and botanist.-Background and education:George Massee was born in Scampston, East Yorkshire, the son of a farmer...

, head of mycology and crytogamic plants at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...

. Cotton remained at Kew till 1915, officially working on algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

, but also making time to pursue his particular interest in clavarioid fungi

Clavarioid fungi

The clavarioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having erect, simple or branched basidiocarps that are formed on the ground, on decaying vegetation, or on dead wood. They are colloquially called club fungi and coral fungi...

.

In 1915 he took charge of a newly established Plant Pathology Laboratory at Kew (later moved to Rothamsted) and in 1920 became Mycologist to the Board of Agriculture. In 1922, he returned to Kew to become Keeper of the Herbarium, a post he retained till his retirement in 1946.

A.D. Cotton was President of the British Mycological Society

British Mycological Society

The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi.-Formation:The Society was formed based on the efforts of two local societies, the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club of Hereford and the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. The curator of the Hereford...

 in 1913 and President of the Linnean Society of London

Linnean Society of London

The Linnean Society of London is the world's premier society for the study and dissemination of taxonomy and natural history. It publishes a zoological journal, as well as botanical and biological journals...

 between 1943 and 1946. He received an OBE for services to plant pathology in 1934.

During his career he published a number of papers on plant pathology, fungi, and algae, as well as co-authoring the first seven parts of the supplement to Elwes'

Henry John Elwes

Henry John Elwes, FRS was a British botanist, entomologist, author, lepidopterist, naturalist, collector and traveller who became renowned for collecting specimens of lilies during trips to the Himalayas and Korea. He was the first person to receive the Victoria Medal of the Royal Horticultural...

 Monograph of the genus Lilium

Lilium

Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though the range extends into the northern subtropics...

. He also described several new taxa of fungi and algae. The marine algal genus Cottoniella Boergesen and the species Fucus cottonii M.J. Wynne & Magne were named after him.

He had married botanist Enid Mary, daughter of John Charles Jesson, in 1913. They had a son and a daughter.

Sample Publications

• Cotton, A.D. (1906). Marine algae from Corea. Kew bulletin of miscellaneous information 1906: 366-373
• Cotton, A.D. (1907). Marine algae from the Chatham Islands. Kew bulletin of miscellaneous information 1907: 37-43.
• Cotton, A.D. (1907). Notes on British Clavariae. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 2: 163-166
• Cotton, A.D. (1909). Notes on marine pyrenomycetes. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 3: 92-99, 1 plate.
• Cotton, A.D. (1912). Clare Island Survey. Marine algae. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 31B(15): 1-178, 11 tables.
• Cotton, A.D. (1914). Some suggestions as to the study and critical revision of certain genera of the Agaricaceae. Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 4: 224-235
• Cotton, A.D. (1915). Cryptogams from the Falkland Islands collected by Mr Vallentin. Journal of the Linnean Society Botany 43: 137-231, tabs 4-10
• Cotton, A.D. & Wakefield, E.M. (1919). A revision of the British Clavariae. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 6: 164-198
• Grove, A. & Cotton, A.D. (1933-40) Supplement to Elwes' Monograph of the genus Lilium, Parts 1-7. London
• Cotton, A.D. (1936). Marine algae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 148: 45-49.

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