Charles E. Fairman was an American physician who published in the field of mycology

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...

. He was for many years the health officer of Yates, New York

Yates, New York

Yates is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 2,510 at the 2000 census. The town in named after Joseph C. Yates, a governor of New York.The Town of Yates is in the northwest part of the county...

, and on the staff of the Medina (New York) Memorial Hospital. A charter member of the Mycological Society of America

Mycological Society of America

The Mycological Society of America is a learned society that serves as the professional organization of mycologists in the U.S. and Canada. It was founded in 1932...

, Fairman published several papers relating to fungi including the pyrenomycetes, the Lophiostomataceae

Lophiostomataceae

The Lophiostomataceae are a family of fungi in the order Pleosporales. Taxa have a widespread distribution, especially in temperate regions, and saprobic or necrotrophic on herbaceous and woody stems....

, and the fungi imperfecti

Fungi imperfecti

The Fungi imperfecti or imperfect fungi, also known as Deuteromycota, are fungi which do not fit into the commonly established taxonomic classifications of fungi that are based on biological species concepts or morphological characteristics of sexual structures because their sexual form of...

.

Early life

Fairman was born on December 28, 1856 to parents Prof. and Mrs. Charles E. Fairman in Yates, New York

Yates, New York

Yates is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 2,510 at the 2000 census. The town in named after Joseph C. Yates, a governor of New York.The Town of Yates is in the northwest part of the county...

, both of whom were teachers. He entered the senior class of the University of Rochester

University of Rochester

The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...

 at the age of 16, and was at the time the youngest graduate the university produced. He graduated from that institution in 1873 with an A.M. degree and received his M.D. degree when he graduated from Shurtleff College

Shurtleff College

Shurtleff College was founded 1827 in Alton, Illinois by Reverend John Mason Peck as Alton Seminary. It became Shurtleff College in 1836 honoring Dr. Brendon Shurtleff, of Boston, who donated $10,000 to the college. Andrew Carnegie in 1910 donated $15,000 for construction of a library...

 in Alton, Illinois

Alton, Illinois

Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...

, in 1877. On February 5, 1878, he married Lois Warren, who died on August 23, 1912.

Fairman had returned to Lyndonville

Lyndonville, New York

Lyndonville is a village in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 862 at the 2000 census. The name was selected because some of the early settlers were from Lyndon, Vermont...

 to practice medicine before his 21st birthday. He was a member of several medical societies and wrote for a number of medical periodicals. The fraternity journal Delta Upsilon Quarterly, in their 1890 alumni report, reports him as being employed as the Examining Surgeon for the United States Pension Department in Medina, New York

Medina, New York

Medina is a village in the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 6,415 at the 2000 census, making it the second most populous municipality in the county after Albion, the county seat. The village was named by its surveyor...

. In July 1927, the New Orleans Medical Association gave him a testimonial dinner in celebration of his 50th year in the practice of medicine.

Fairman achieved worldwide renown as a mycologist. He began studying the fungi at about age 30, when his interest was piqued when he and his father-in-law (Dr. John D. Warren) undertook to cultivate mushrooms. He corresponded with various noted authorities in mycology, including Job Bicknell Ellis

Job Bicknell Ellis

Job Bicknell Ellis was a pioneering North American mycologist known for his study of the Ascomycetes, especially the grouping of fungi called the Pyrenomycetes . Born and raised in New York, he worked as a teacher and farmer before developing an interest in mycology...

, Charles Horton Peck

Charles Horton Peck

Charles Horton Peck, born March 30, 1833 in Sand Lake, New York, died 1917 in Albany, New York, was an American mycologist of the 19th and early 20th centuries...

, Pier Andrea Saccardo

Pier Andrea Saccardo

Pier Andrea Saccardo was an Italian botanist and mycologist.- Life :...

, Heinrich Rehm

Heinrich Rehm

Heinrich Simon Ludwig Friedrich Felix Rehm was a German mycologist and lichenologist.-Publications:*Rehm, H. 1874. Ascomyceten Fasc. 5: 201-250*----. 1875. Ascomyceten 6: 251-300...

, and Joseph Charles Arthur

Joseph Charles Arthur

Joseph Charles Arthur was an American botanist known for his investigations into rusts . He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1923.- External links :*...

. Fairman also accumulated a large personal collection of mycological books, as well as a personal herbarium

Herbarium

In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...

 of 23,000 various fungi, some of which has been incorporated in the Plant Pathology Herbarium at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

. Fairman also collected specimens for the New York Botanical Garden

New York Botanical Garden

- See also :* Education in New York City* List of botanical gardens in the United States* List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City- External links :* official website** blog*...

 Herbarium. Fairman was also noted as an authority on many plants.

Career

He spent the majority of his life in Lyndonville, New York

Lyndonville, New York

Lyndonville is a village in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 862 at the 2000 census. The name was selected because some of the early settlers were from Lyndon, Vermont...

, where he was one of the "best known and beloved physicians". He specialized in pyrenomycetous fungi

Sordariomycetes

The Sordariomycetes are a class of fungi in the subdivision Pezizomycotina , consisting of 15 orders, 64 families, 1119 genera, and 10564 species.Sordariomycetes generally produce their asci in perithecial fruiting bodies....

, and mycologist Curtis Gates Lloyd

Curtis Gates Lloyd

Curtis Gates Lloyd was an American mycologist known for both his research on the Gasteromycetes, as well as his controversial views on naming conventions in taxonomy. He had a herbarium with over 59,000 fungal specimens, and published over a thousand new species of fungi...

 once wrote "Dr. Fairman has probably the best critical knowledge of this difficult group of any one in our country." Fairman died suddenly of a heart attack on December 27, 1934, a day before he was to be honored for his 78th birthday. He is buried in Lynhaven cemetery in Lyndonville.

Taxa described

Fairman's taxonomical

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 contributions were mostly related to pyrenomycetes and the fungi imperfecti

Fungi imperfecti

The Fungi imperfecti or imperfect fungi, also known as Deuteromycota, are fungi which do not fit into the commonly established taxonomic classifications of fungi that are based on biological species concepts or morphological characteristics of sexual structures because their sexual form of...

. In his later years he specialized in the Lophiostomataceae

Lophiostomataceae

The Lophiostomataceae are a family of fungi in the order Pleosporales. Taxa have a widespread distribution, especially in temperate regions, and saprobic or necrotrophic on herbaceous and woody stems....

. Taxa

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

 described by Fairman include:

• Amblyosporiopsis Fairm. 1922
• Amblyosporiopsis parasphenoides Fairm. 1922
• Amphisphaeria abietina Fairm. 1906
• Amphisphaeria aeruginosa Fairm. 1906
• Amphisphaeria bertiana Fairm. 1906
• Amphisphaeria nucidoma Fairm. 1921
• Amphisphaeria polymorpha Fairm. 1906
• Amphisphaeria vestigialis Fairm. 1910
• Amphisphaeria xera Fairm. 1910
• Anthostomella endoxyloides Fairm. 1922
• Apiosporella cornina Fairm. 1918
• Aplosporella calycanthi Fairm. 1910
• Ascochyta agropyrina Fairm. 1931
• Ascochyta boutelouae Fairm. 1918
• Ascochyta phlogina Fairm. 1910
• Ascochyta phlogis var. phlogina Fairm. 1910
• Ascochyta symphoricarpophila Fairm. 1910
• Ascochytula agropyrina Fairm. 1918
• Camarosporium elaeagnellum Fairm. 1910
• Camarosporium eriocryptum Fairm. 1923
• Camarosporium estrelti Fairm. 1918
• Camarosporium wistarianum Fairm. 1918
• Camarosporium yuccaesedum Fairm. 1918
• Caryospora cariosa Fairm. 1905
• Chorostate ailanthi var. megaceraphora Fairm. 1906
• Cladosporium punctulatum var. xylogenum Fairm. 1922
• Cladosporium vincae Fairm. 1911
• Clasterosporium larviforme Fairm. 1922
• Coniosporium nucifoedum Fairm. 1921
• Coniothyrium chionanthi Fairm. 1913
• Coniothyrium leprosum Fairm. 1923
• Coniothyrium marrubii Fairm. 1923
• Coniothyrium olivaceum var. salsolae Fairm. 1918
• Coniothyrium olivaceum var. thermopsidis Fairm. 1918
• Coniothyrium praeclarum Fairm. 1922
• Coniothyrium sepium Fairm. 1918
• Cryptodiscus araneocinctus Fairm. 1913
• Cryptostictis utensis Fairm. 1918
• Cucurbitaria rimulina Fairm. 1922
• Cylindrium gossypinum Fairm. 1921
• Cylindrocolla faecalis Fairm. 1920
• Cytospora nyssae Fairm. 1922
• Dendrophoma nigrescens Fairm. 1922
• Diaporthe ailanthi var. megacera Fairm. 1906
• Diaporthe elaeagni var. americana Fairm.
• Diaporthe hamamelidis Fairm. 1922
• Diatrype standleyi Fairm. 1918
• Dicaeoma nemoseridis Fairm. 1923
• Dictyochora gambellii Fairm. 1918
• Didymaria arthoniaespora Fairm. 1906
• Didymella eurotiae Fairm. 1918
• Didymella nucis-hicoriae Fairm. 1921
• Didymella ramonae Fairm. 1923
• Didymochaeta columbiana Fairm. 1922
• Didymosphaeria lonicerae-ripariae Fairm. 1922
• Didymosphaeria nuciseda Fairm. 1921
• Didymosporium propolidioides Fairm. 1922
• Diplodia akebiae Fairm. 1913
• Diplodia hamamelidis Fairm. 1910
• Diplodia heteromelina Fairm. 1923
• Diplodina epicarya Fairm. 1921
• Discella zythiacea Fairm. 1922
• Discosia poikilomera Fairm. 1923
• Dothiorella nucis Fairm. 1921
• Dothiorella phomopsis Fairm. 1918
• Eutypella brunaudiana var. ribis-aurei Fairm. 1918
• Eutypella ceranata Fairm. 1923
• Eutypella domicalis Fairm. 1923
• Excipula dictamni Fairm. 1910
• Exosporium scolecomorphum Fairm. 1922
• Gamonaemella Fairm. 1922
• Gamonaemella divergens Fairm. 1922
• Gibberidea arthrophyma Fairm. 1918
• Gloniopsis lathami Fairm. 1922
• Gloniopsis lathami var. asymetrica Fairm. 1922
• Glonium vestigiale Fairm. 1923
• Graphium sordidiceps Fairm. 1922
• Helotium vitellinum var. pallidostriatum Fairm. 1904
• Hendersonia arundinariae Fairm. 1922
• Hendersonia coccolobina Fairm. 1913
• Hendersonia eriogoni Fairm. 1918
• Hendersonia foliorum-hamamelidina Fairm. 1922
• Hendersonia hortilecta Fairm. 1918
• Hendersonia hydrangeae Fairm. 1910
• Hendersonia hypocarpa Fairm. 1913
• Hendersonia leucelenes Fairm. 1918
• Hendersonia petalostemonis Fairm. 1918
• Hendersonia stanleyellae Fairm. 1918
• Hendersonia subcultriformis Fairm. 1918
• Heteropatella acerina Fairm. 1922
• Hypoderma ptarmicola Fairm. 1906
• Hysterium standleyanum Fairm. 1918
• Karschia crassa Fairm. 1904
• Karschia elaeospora Fairm. 1921
• Lasiosphaeria ovina var. aureliana Fairm. 1904
• Leptosphaeria cacuminispora Fairm. 1921
• Leptosphaeria coleosanthi Fairm. 1918
• Leptosphaeria eustoma f. leguminosa Fairm. 1906
• Leptosphaeria exocarpogena Fairm. 1921
• Leptosphaeria galiorum var. gnaphaliana Fairm. 1923
• Leptosphaeria hamamelidis Fairm. 1922
• Leptosphaeria lyciophila Fairm. 1922
• Leptosphaeria lyndonvillae Fairm. 1906
• Leptosphaeria nigricans var. grindeliae Fairm. 1918
• Leptosphaeria physostegiae Fairm. 1906
• Leptosphaeria pseudohleria Fairm. 1922
• Leptosphaeria quamoclidii Fairm. 1918
• Leptospora stictochaetophora Fairm. 1906
• Leptostroma mitchellae Fairm. 1922
• Lophiostoma cephalanthi Fairm. 1904
• Lophiostoma triseptatum var. acutum Fairm.
• Lophiostoma triseptatum var. diagonale Fairm.
• Lophiostoma triseptatum var. pluriseptatum Fairm.
• Lophiotrema halesiae Fairm. 1910
• Macrophoma fitzpatriciana Fairm. 1921
• Melanomma nigriseda Fairm. 1922
• Melanopsamma amphisphaeria var. carpigena Fairm. 1921
• Melanopsamma subrhombispora Fairm. 1921
• Merulius leguminosus Fairm. 1906
• Merulius lyndonvillae Fairm. 1906
• Metasphaeria leguminosa Fairm. 1906
• Metasphaeria lyndonvillae Fairm. 1906
• Microdiplodia anograe Fairm. 1918
• Microdiplodia diervillae Fairm. 1918
• Microdiplodia galiicola Fairm. 1918
• Microdiplodia ilicigena Fairm. 1922
• Microdiplodia leucelenes Fairm. 1918
• Microdiplodia mimuli Fairm. 1923
• Microdiplodia ramonae Fairm. 1923
• Microdiplodia valvuli Fairm. 1910
• Mollisia lanaria Fairm. 1911
• Monosporium avellaneum Fairm. 1921
• Mucor taeniae Fairm. 1890
• Mycosphaerella chlorogali Fairm. 1923
• Mycosphaerella nemoseridis Fairm. 1923
• Mycosphaerella weigelae Fairm. 1910
• Myriangium catalinae Fairm. 1923
• Oospora sceliscophorus Fairm. 1906
• Ophiobolus gnaphalii var. lanaria Fairm. 1911
• Ophiobolus sceliscophorus Fairm. 1906
• Patellea oreophila Fairm. 1918
• Pestalotia nuciseda Fairm. 1921
• Pestalotia truncata var. septoriana Fairm. 1913
• Phialea phaeoconia Fairm. 1911
• Phialea vitellina var. pallidostriata Fairm.
• Phoma albovestita Fairm.
• Phoma cercidicola Fairm. 1911
• Phoma dioscoreae Fairm. 1922
• Phoma estrelti Fairm. 1918
• Phoma lanuginis Fairm. 1910
• Phoma lyndonvillensis Fairm. 1890
• Phoma megarrhizae Fairm. 1923
• Phoma regina Fairm. 1911
• Phoma rudbeckiae Fairm. 1890
• Phoma sidalceae Fairm. 1918
• Phoma verbascicarpa Fairm. 1918
• Phoma weldiana Fairm.
• Phomopsis carposchiza Fairm. 1921
• Phomopsis ericaceana Fairm. 1918
• Phomopsis fraterna Fairm. 1922
• Phomopsis nicotianae Fairm. 1923
• Phomopsis rubiseda Fairm. 1922
• Phomopsis trillii Fairm. 1922
• Phyllachora blepharoneuri Fairm. 1918
• Phyllachora nuttalliana Fairm. 1923
• Phyllosticta dictamni Fairm. 1910
• Phyllosticta kalmicola var. berolinensiformis Fairm. 1910
• Phyllosticta mortonii
  Phyllosticta mortonii
  Phyllosticta mortonii is a plant pathogen.- External links :**...
  
  Fairm. 1913
• Phyllosticta pitcheriana Fairm. 1910
• Phyllosticta rhoiseda Fairm. 1923
• Physalospora eucalyptina Fairm. 1923
• Physalospora heteromelina Fairm. 1923
• Platystomum phyllogenum Fairm. 1918
• Pleospora aureliana Fairm. 1906
• Pleospora chlorogali Fairm. 1923
• Pyrenochaeta fraxinina Fairm. 1913
• Pyrenochaeta nucinata Fairm. 1921
• Pyrenopeziza cephalanthi Fairm. 1904
• Pyrenophora leucelenes Fairm. 1918
• Rhabdospora baculum var. nucimaculans Fairm. 1921
• Rhabdospora cryphosporopsis Fairm. 1922
• Rhabdospora dumentorum Fairm. 1918
• Rhabdospora dumetorum Fairm. 1918
• Rhabdospora gauracea Fairm. 1918
• Rhabdospora ilicigena Fairm. 1922
• Rhabdospora translucens Fairm. 1918
• Rhynchosphaeria nucicola Fairm. 1921
• Rhynchostoma nucis Fairm. 1921
• Schizocapnodium Fairm. 1921
• Schizocapnodium sarcinellum Fairm. 1921
• Scolicosporium transversum Fairm. 1922
• Septocylindrium nuculinum Fairm. 1921
• Septoria carricerae Fairm. 1913
• Septoria lanaria Fairm. 1911
• Sphaerographium avenaceum Fairm. 1923
• Sphaeronaema epicaulon Fairm. 1922
• Sphaeropsis coccolobae Fairm. 1913
• Sphaeropsis diervillae Fairm.
• Sphaeropsis elaeagnina Fairm. 1910
• Sphaeropsis nebelina Fairm. 1923
• Sphaeropsis opuntiae Fairm. 1922
• Sphaeropsis pallidula Fairm. 1921
• Sphaeropsis rhodocarpa Fairm. 1913
• Sphaeropsis subconfluens Fairm. 1922
• Sphaeropsis wistariana Fairm. 1918
• Sporidesmium leguminosa Fairm. 1906
• Sporormia leguminosa Fairm. 1906
• Sporormia ourasca Fairm. 1922
• Stagonospora humuli-americani Fairm. 1918
• Stagonospora nucicidia Fairm. 1921
• Stagonospora nuciseda Fairm. 1921
• Stagonospora nyssicola Fairm. 1922
• Stemphylium subsphaericum Fairm. 1922
• Stictis lanuginicincta Fairm. 1923
• Strickeria catalinae Fairm. 1923
• Tapesia rhois Fairm. 1900
• Tapesia secamenti Fairm. 1910
• Teichosporella lonicerina Fairm. 1923
• Trichopeziza interpilosa Fairm. 1906
• Trichosphaeria interpilosa Fairm.
• Valsa holodiscina Fairm. 1923
• Valsaria acericola Fairm. 1905
• Vermicularia exocarpinella Fairm. 1921
• Vermicularia phlogina Fairm. 1887
• Vermicularia putaminicrustans Fairm. 1921
• Vermicularia solanoica Fairm.
• Volutella caryogena Fairm. 1921
• Volutella vincae Fairm. 1911
• Zignoëlla nucivora Fairm. 1921

Publications

• Fairman, C.E. (1887). "A method of staining Peziza specimens". Botanical Gazette 12(4): 85.
• ___________ (1887). "Ash in basket work". Botanical Gazette. 12(3): 64–65.
• ___________ (1887). "Vermicularia phlogina Fairm. n. sp.". Botanical Gazette 12(3): 67.
• ___________ (1889). "Black spot of asparagus berries". Journal of Mycology 5(3): 157–158.
• ___________ (1889). "Notes on rare fungi from western New York". Journal of Mycology 5(2): 78–80.
• ___________ (1890). "Observation on the development of some fenestrate sporidia". Journal of Mycology 6(1): 29–31.
• ___________ (1890). "The fungi of western New York". Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Sciences 2: 154–167.
• ___________ (1900). "Puff-balls, slime moulds and cup fungi of Orleans County, New York". Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Sciences 3: 206–220.
• ___________ (1904). "Some new fungi from western New York". Journal of Mycology 10(5): 229–231.
• ___________ (1905). "The Pyrenomyceteae or Orleans County, New York". Proceeding of the Rochester Academy of Sciences 4: 165–191.
• ___________ (1906). "Pyrenomycetaceae novae in leguminibus Robiniae". Annales Mycologici 4:326–328.
• ___________ (1906). "New or rare Pyrenomycetaceae from western New York". Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Sciences 4: 215–224, pl.20–22.
• ___________, Bonansea S, Saccardo PA. (1906). "Micromycetes Americani Novi". The Journal of Mycology 12(2): 47–52.
• ___________ (1910). "Fungi Lyndonvillenses novi vel minus cogniti". Annales Mycologici 8 (3): 322–332.
• ___________ (1910, publ. 1911). "Fungi Lyndonvillenses novi vel minus cogniti. Series II". Annales Mycologici 9: 147–152, 7 figs.
• ___________ (1913). "Notes on new species of fungi from various localities". Mycologia 5(4): 245–248.
• ___________ (1918). "Notes on new species of fungi from various localities – II". Mycologia 10(3): 164–167.
• ___________ (1918). "New or noteworthy ascomycetes and lower fungi from New Mexico. Mycologia 10(5): 239–264.
• ___________ (1921). "The fungi of our common nuts and pits". Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Sciences 6: 73–115, tabs 15–20.
• ___________ (1922). "New or rare fungi from various localities". Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Sciences 6: 117–139.