Volume 14, Part 4, November 2000

Mycology at Birkbeck College

Throughout the twentieth century BirkbeckCollege has been connected with mycology. Itbegan in 1909 with Helen Frazer, at the age ofthirty, taking charge of the Department ofBotany. In 1911 she married Professor T. G.Gwynne-Vaughan, a distinguished palaeobotanist,and was devastated when he died a few yearslater. When, in 1920, the College became a Schoolof the University of London, she was one of thevery few given the title of Professor.

Helen's considerable and valuable work inmycology is set out with great clarity in her'Fungi: Ascomycetes, Ustilaginales, Uredinales'published in 1922 as one of the prestigiousCambridge Botanical Handbooks. This wasexpanded (in 1926) with the help of hercolleague Dr B. Barnes (BMS President in 1934)to become the standard mycological text inBritish universities. She was BMS President in1928.

Much of her work was outstanding thoughsomewhat clouded by a tenacious adherence tothe 'brachym eiosis ' heresy. Her cytologicalstudies led to the view that there were twonuclear fusions and two reduction divisions in theascomycete life-cycle. The fusion nucleus in theascus -initial cell was regarded by her astetraploid. The two divisions of normal meiosisproduced four diploid nuclei which by a singlefurther reduction (brachymeiosis) provided thehaploid ones for the usual eight ascospores.

It is im p os sib le to write about HelenGwynne-Vaughan without reference to her othernotable activities. In the Great War (1914-18),on leave from Birkbeck , she founded thewomen's army behind the front line in France.For this service she was made a 'Dame'. Whenwar broke out again in 1939, she was recalled tothe colours as General in command of thewomen soldiers (ATS) . However, two years later,and much to her annoyance, she was replacedby a younger woman and resumed her LondonChair.

My first encounte r with Dame Helen was inOxford in 1926 at a meeting of the BritishAssociation. She was then President of Section K(Botany) and I was a student exhibitioner for thatoccasion from Queen's University Belfast. Assuch I was introduced to her and was duly

impressed by her striking personality and hercharm.

On reaching the statutory age, she retired in1944 when, with her warm welcome, I followedher in the Chair. It is, perhaps, of interest to notethat of the five interviewed for the post, threesubsequently became Presidents of the BMS.

I was Professor of Botany from 1944 untilretirement in 1972 at the age of 67, the maximumthen permitted by the University. During thistime the mycological tradition continued, myown interest and those of my research studentsbeing in problems relating to spore dispersal andto aquatic fungi . For most of my time in BirkbeckI was supported by Bryan Plunkett whose ownline of research was quite different from mineand whose highly original paper onmorphogenesis in Polyporus brumalis is a classic.

My first research student was Hilda Canter(Mrs Lund). In persuading her to study chytridsfor her Ph .D., I initiated a major contribution tomycology.

Birkbeck developed a 2-year part-time coursein Mycology leading to the M. Sc . degreeunusually, at that time, awarded on the basis ofwritten papers and a dissertation. Later it wasreplaced by one of wider appeal - in Microbiology,which continues as an important course in theDepartment of Biology. Sadly there is no longer aDepartment of Botany.

After 1972 the Botany Chair ceased to beoccupied by a mycologist, but the subject waskept in good heart by Bryan Plunkett , latersupported by Jane Nicklin who gave a modernemphasis to the subject. Bryan retired in 1981after 35 years of devoted service, not onlyteaching in Mycology but also in Algology. Heloved seaweeds.

Jane's contribution will now be complementedby that of Paul Bridge, appointed to a new Chairof Mycology under the joint aegis of Birkbeck andthe Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Thisdevelopment is greatly to be welcomed for,although amateur mycology flourishes in Britain,the subject is inadequately supported in ouruniversities.

C. T. Ingold1 The Rowans , West EndCholsey, axon OXlO 9LN

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