Giacomo Bresadola 14 February 1847 – Trento

Trento

Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...

 9 June 1929) was an eminent Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 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...

. Fungi he named include the deadly Lepiota helveola and Inocybe patouillardii, though the latter is now known as Inocybe erubescens as this latter description predated Bresadola's by a year. He was a founding member of the Société mycologique de France (Mycology Society of France).

Life

Bresadola was born in 1847 into a farming family in Trent

Trento

Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...

, then an Austrian possession. From a very early age, he showed an interest in botany

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...

. After attending elementary school at Mezzana, he was sent by his father to Cloz

Cloz

Cloz is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 40 km north of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 710 and an area of 8.3 km²....

 in the Val di Non at the age of nine to continue his studies with his uncle who was a priest. His uncle, however, considered him too rambunctious and quickly sent him home again. In 1857, his father moved to Montichiari

Montichiari

Montichiari is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on December 27, 1991....

 in Brescia

Brescia

Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...

 to become a bronze merchant. At twelve years of age, he left to study at the technical institute in Rovereto

Rovereto

Rovereto is a city and comune in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River.-History:Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier between the bishopric of Trento - an independent state until 1797 - and the republic of Venice, and later...

. Having placed at the head of his class four years in a row, he was so disappointed at being classed second that he abandoned his studies to enter the seminary at Trent.

Upon becoming a priest, he was appointed to the parishes of Baselga di Pinè

Baselga di Pinè

Baselga di Pinè is a comune in Trentino in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 12 km northeast of Trento...

, Roncegno

Roncegno

Roncegno Terme is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 20 km east of Trento.-Geography:...

, and Malè

Malè

Malé is a comune in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 35 km northwest of the provincial capital Trento...

. In 1878, he became the vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

 at Magràs, a position he held for five years. During this period, he again started to become keenly interested in botany and spent time with Francesco Ambrosi, whoever he was, who introduced him to the bryologist

Bryology

Bryology is the branch of botany concerned with the scientific study of bryophytes . Bryophytes were first studied in detail in the 18th century...

 Gustavo Venturi

Gustavo Venturi

Gustavo Venturi was an Italian bryologist who was a native of Rovereto.After graduating with a law degree, Venturi worked as an attorney in Trento, where he researched bryology as a hobby...

 and the work of Carlo Vittadini

Carlo Vittadini

Carlo Vittadini was an Italian doctor and mycologist.- Life :He studied in Milan and at the University of Pavia, where he attended the classes given by Giuseppe L. Moretti...

. Both the large number of mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

s that he found during his excursions and his contact with various mycologists

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...

 led to a specific interest in mycology.

Thus he met with Pier Andrea Saccardo

Pier Andrea Saccardo

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

, a professor of botany at the University of Padua

University of Padua

The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...

 and celebrated mycologist. Saccardo directed Bresadola to Lucien Quélet

Lucien Quélet

thumb|Lucien QuéletLucien Quélet was a French mycologist and naturalist who discovered several species and was the founder of the Société mycologique de France, a society devoted to mycological studies....

 and later Émile Boudier, with whom he would have a warm relationship. From this point on, he maintained a voluminous and broad correspondence with upwards of 400 Italian and foreign specialists, a collection that is now housed at the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

.

Starting in 1881, he published the first installment of Fungi tridentini novi vel novum vel nondum delineati, a work which, when finished in 1892, ran to 232 pages of text and 217 plates. In 1884, he left to become vicar in Trent, where he would remain for the rest of his life. In 1887, he was named administrator of the Trent episcopacy's estates, a position he held until 1910.

He became a leading specialist in various areas, in which he enjoyed close collaborations: Agaricomycetes

Agaricomycetes

Agaricomycetes is a class of fungi. The taxon is roughly identical to that defined for the Homobasidiomycetes by Hibbett & Thorn, with the inclusion of Auriculariales and Sebacinales. It includes not only mushrooms but also most species placed in the deprecated taxa Gasteromycetes and...

, with Quélet and Adalbert Ricken

Adalbert Ricken

Adalbert Ricken was a German Roman Catholic priest and mycologist who was a native of Fulda.He attended the seminary for Roman Catholic priests in Fulda, and afterwards was a priest and chaplain in several locations in the Fulda diocese...

; Aphyllophoromycetideae, with Narcisse Théophile Patouillard

Narcisse Théophile Patouillard

Narcisse Théophile Patouillard was a French pharmacist and mycologist.He was born in Macornay, a town in the department of Jura...

 and the Canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 Hubert Bourdot

Hubert Bourdot

Hubert Bourdot was a French Roman Catholic priest and mycologist who was a native of Imphy, a community in the department of Nièvre....

; and finally Discomycetes

Discomycetes

Discomycetes is a former taxonomic class of Ascomycete fungi which contains all of the cup, sponge, brain, and some club-like fungi. It includes typical cup fungi like the scarlet elf cup and the orange peel fungus, and fungi with fruiting bodies of more unusual shape, such as morels, truffles and...

 with Boudier. He also developed a keen interest in exotic specimens and published various observations on examples he received from all parts of the world, including Cameroon, Congo, Hungary, Saxony, Poland, San Tomé, and Samoa.
Under the auspices of the Italian Botanical Society and the Natural History Museum in Trent, he undertook the monumental Iconographia mycologica, a partially posthumous work which comprised some 25 volumes and 1,250 colour plates.
In 1910, he retired and relied on his friends and family for a reasonable pension. Unfortunately, the First World War diminished its value considerably and to survive he was forced to sell off piecemeal his extensive library, his plant collection and his original drawings. In 1927, the University of Padua conferred upon him a doctorate honoris causa and the Italian government named him to the Order of the Crown of Italy

Order of the Crown of Italy

The Order of the Crown of Italy was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861...

. He died in Trent in June, 1929 and was buried at municipal expense.

Bresadola is the author of 1017 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of mushrooms and some fifteen genres in roughly sixty publications, almost all of which are written in Latin. His collections are today conserved in various institutions. The Natural History Museum of Stockholm has the largest collection (some thirty thousand species), although additional parts of Bresadola's collection are to be found in the Universities of Washington, Trent

University of Trento

The University of Trento is an Italian university located in the cities of Trento and Rovereto. It has been able to achieve considerable results in didactics, research and international relations, as shown by Censis University Guide and by the Italian Ministry of...

, Uppsala, Leiden and Paris.

Works

• 1890 : Fungi Kamerunenses a cl. viro Joanne Braun lecti, additis nonnullis aliis novis, vel criticis ex regio museo bot. Berolinensi. Bulletin de la Société mycologique de France 6 (1): 32-49.
• 1891 Fungi Lusitani collecti a cl. viro Adolphus Fr. Moller, anno 1890. Boletim da Sociedade Broteriana 9: 1-9 [reprint pag.].
• 1891 : Champignons de la Hongrie. Revue Mycologique Toulouse 13: 20-33.
• 1892 : Fungi aliquot Saxonici novi lecti a cl. W. Krieger. Hedwigia 31: 40-41.
• 1893 : Fungi aliquot Saxonici novi lecti a cl. W. Krieger. Hedwigia 32: 32-[?].
• 1894 : Fungi aliquot Saxonici novi vel critici a cl. W. Krieger lecti (contributio III ad Floram Mycol. Saxoniae). Hedwigia 33: 206-210.
• 1896 : Fungi aliquot Saxonici novi a cl. W. Krieger lecti. IV. Hedwigia 35: 199-[200].
• 1896 : Fungi Brasilienses lecti a cl. Dr Alfredo Möller. Hedwigia 35: 276-302.
• 1897 : Hymenomycetes Hungarici Kmetiani. Atti dell'I.R. Accademia di Scienze Lettere ed Arti degli Agiati in Rovereto Ser. 3 3: 66-[114].
• 1899 : I funghi mangerecci e velenosi dell'Europa media con speciale riguardo a quelli che crescono nel Trentino (première édition).
• 1900 : Fungi aliquot Saxonici novi. VI. Hedwigia 39: 325-[347].
• 1900 : Hymenomycetes Fuegiani a cl. P. Dusén et O. Nordenskjöld lecti. K. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar 2: 311-316.
• 1900 : Hymenomycetes fuegiani a Dusén, Nordenskjold lecti. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Schwedischen Expedition nach den Magellansländern. 1895-1897 Band. III.
• 1902 : Mycetes Lusitanici novi. Atti dell'I.R. Accademia di Scienze Lettere ed Arti degli Agiati in Rovereto Ser. 3 8: 128-133.
• 1903 : Fungi Polonici a cl. Viro B. Eichler lecti (continuatio). Annales Mycologici 1 (1-2): 65-131, 1 planche.
• 1903 : Fungi Polonici. Annales Mycologici 1 (1): 65-96.
• 1903 : Mycologia Lusitanica. Diagnoses fungorum novorum. Brotéria Ser. Botânica 2: 87-92.
• 1905 : Hymenomycetes novi vel minus cogniti. Annales Mycologici 3: 159-164.
• 1906 : I funghi mangerecci e velenosi dell'Europa media con speciale riguardo a quelli che crescono nel Trentino. II edizione riveduta ed aumentata. Trento: Stab. Lit. Tip. Giovanni Zippel 1906. 8vo, p (1-5) 6-142 et 121 planches (don't 120 lithographies coul.).
• 1908 : Fungi aliquot Gallici novi vel minus cogniti. Annales Mycologici 6: 37-47.
• 1908 : Drittes Verzeichniss zu meiner Exsiccatenwerk `Fungi Selecti Exsiccati', Serien IX-XII (201-300). Verhandlungen des Botanischen Vereins der Provinz Brandenburg 50: 29-51.
• 1911 : Fungi Congoenses. Annales Mycologici 9: 266-276.
• 1911 : Adnotanda mycologica. Annales Mycologici 9 (4): 425-428.
• 1912 : Polyporaceae Javanicae. Annales Mycologici 10: 492-508.
• 1912 : Basidiomycetes Philippinenses. Series I. Hedwigia 51 (4): 306-326.
• 1912 : Basidiomycetes Philippinenses. Series II. Hedwigia 53: 46-80.
• 1913 : Champignons de Congo Belge. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de l'État à Bruxelles 4: 6-30.
• 1915 : Neue Pilze aus Sachsen. Annales Mycologici 13: 104-106.
• 1915 : Basidiomycetes Philippinenses. Series III. Hedwigia 56 (4): 289-307.
• 1916 : Synonymia et adnotanda mycologica. Annales Mycologici 14 (3-4): 221-242.
• 1920 : Selecta mycologica. Annales Mycologici 18 (1-3): 26-70.
• 1925 : New species of fungi. Mycologia 17 (2): 68-77.
• 1926 : Selecta mycologica II - Studi Trentini Sen Il. Sci. Nat. ed. Econ. 7 (1): 51-81.
• 1927 [publ. 1928] : Iconografia Mycologica 3: 101-150. Mediolani.
• 1929 : Iconografia Mycologica 9: 401-450.
• 1929 : Iconografia Mycologica 12: 551-600.
• 1930 : Iconografia Mycologica 16: 751-800.
• 1893 : Bresadola, G., Hennings, P. & Magnus, P.. Die von Herrn P. Sintenis auf der Insel Portorico 1884-1887 gesammelten Pilze. Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeografie 17: 489-501, 1 planche.
• 1897 : Bresadola, G. & Saccardo, P.A.. Enumerazione dei funghi della Valsesia raccolti dal Ch. Ab. Antonio Carestia. Malpighia 11: 241-325.
• 1899 (1900) : Bresadola, G. & Saccardo, P.A.. Fungi Congoenses. Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de Belgique 38: 152-168, 5 planches.

Genera

• Bourdotia (Bres.) Bres. & Torrend, Broteria, ser. bot. 11: 88 (1913)
• Copelandia Bres., Hedwigia 53: 51 (1912)
• Jaapia Bres., Annls mycol. 9: 428 (1911)

Species and sub-species

• Asterostroma laxum, A. medium, A. ochroleucum
• Collybia dryophila var. peronata, var. vernalis Schulzer & Bresadola
• Corticium queletii
• Cortinarius variegatus, C. variegatus var. marginatus
• Cyphella alboflavida, C. cochlearis
• Dacrymyces palmatus (Schweinitz) Bresadola 1904
• Discina leucoxantha, D. melaleuca, D. repanda var. terrestris
• Eichleriella leucophaea
• Entoloma excentricum
• Exidia umbrinella
• Exobasidium graminicola
• Ganoderma pfeifferi
• Gloeoporus dichrous (Fries) Bresadola 1912
• Gyromitra leucoxantha
• Hebeloma fusipes, H. hiemale
• Helvella queletii
• Heterochaete delicata (Klotzsch ex Berkeley) Bresadola
• Hygrophorus marzuolus (Fries : Fries) Bresadola, H. queletii
• Hymenochaete fuliginosa (Persoon) Bresadola
• Inocybe cookei, I. fulvella, I. fulvida, I. hirtella, I. incarnata, I. patouillardii (=I. erubescens), I. rhodiola, I. umbrina
• Jaapia argillacea
• Lactarius uvidus var. pallidus
• Lepiota boudieri, L. helveola, L. ignicolor, L. lignicolor, L. lilacea, L. rubella
• Lepiota carinii
• Melanoleuca paedida, M. phaeopodia
• Morchella tridentina
• Mycena archangeliana, M. olida
• Nectria galligena
• Panaeolus guttulatus
• Panellus stipticus var. albus
• Peniophora frangulae, P. nuda (Fries) Bresadola 1897, P. proxima, P. versicolor
• Peziza praetervisa
• Phlebia livida (Persoon : Fries) Bresadola 1897
• Phylloporus rhodoxanthus (Schweinitz : Fries) Bresadola
• Pluteus diettrichii, P. granulatus, P. luteus, P. murinus
• Russula azurea, R. chloroides (Krombholz) Bresadola, R. elegans, R. lilacea var. carnicolor, R. olivacea var. pavonina, R. puellaris var. leprosa, R. purpurascens, R. similis, R. torulosa, R. turci
• Sebacina carneola, Sebacina plumbea Bresadola & Torrend 1913
• Septobasidium carestianum, S. cavarae, S. fuscoviolaceum, S. marianii
• Torrendia pulchella
• Tricholoma goniospermum, T. squarrulosum, T. sulfurescens
• Tulasnella brinkmannii, T. eichleriana, T. fuscoviolacea, T.pinicola
• Tulostoma armillatum, T. melanocyclum
• Vuilleminia megalospora