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Centenary of a Mycologist: C. Terence Ingold
Mycological Research News
754
doi:10.1017/S0953756205223559
C E N T E N A R Y O F A M Y C O L O G I S T : C . T ER E N C E I N G O L D
Fig. 1. C. Terence Ingold. Photograph by Patsy Healey.
Terence Ingold (Fig. 1), 100 this month (5 July 2005), can truly be described as the grand old man of mycology and we salute him as a man and for his splendid achievements as a research mycologist of first rank, his extensive publications, his ability to draw beautifully and to capture the ‘ jizz ’ of a fungus, his outstanding teaching, his acute powers of observation, his originality, and staying power. His research interests have extended over an exceptionally wide field : chytrids, spore discharge in many ascomycetes (Podospora, Sordaria, Ascobolus, Daldinia, Epichloe¨, Acrospermum) and basidiomycetes (Sphaerobolus, Itersonilia, Tilletiopsis, Bensingtonia), aquatic hyphomycetes, Mucorales, Entomophthorales, aquatic ascomycetes, jelly fungi, smuts, polypores, cytoplasmic flow, retraction septa, and homing. A tribute to Terence was published on the occasion of his 80th birthday (Dick, Pegler & Sutton 1985), and in this Plunkett (1985) listed 174 publications. In the succeeding 20 yr, about 100 further publications have appeared. It is remarkable that he has been able to continue research at home, with simple facilities. Several themes in his research stand out. His name will for ever be associated with aquatic hyphomycetes, first discovered in the Donkey Brook
in Leicestershire, but since found to be abundant in babbling brooks the world over, playing a vital role in leaf processing, nutrient cycling and invertebrate nutrition. Their characteristic spores, trapped in stream foam, enable them to be identified and there is an enormous literature on their ecology. He was a disciple of A. H. Reginald Buller, whose writings (Buller 1909–50) kindled his interest in spore discharge, clearly expounded in three classical and influential text books (Ingold 1953, 1965, 1971). He recognised the potential of Itersonilia perplexans which he had isolated from a jelly fungus in helping to interpret the surface tension catapult mechanism of ballistospore discharge, confirmed recently using ultra high speed digital video cameras by ‘Nik ’ Money et al. (unpubl.). He had followed Buller in suggesting that the surface energy of Buller’s drop might in some way be involved in discharge. Other research topics pursued during ‘retirement ’ have included numerous observations on ustilospore germination in smut fungi, leading to a better understanding of variations in the cytology and behaviour of the basidium in this group. He has served the British Mycological Society twice as President (in 1953 and 1971), and was the President of the first International Mycological Congress (IMC1) in Exeter in 1971. Terence Ingold represents a fast-disappearing kind of mycologist, an all-rounder with an interest in the whole, living fungus. We wish him well and continuing good health. Buller, A. H. R. (1909–50) Researches on Fungi. 7 vols. Longmans Green, London. Dick, M. W., Pegler, D. N. & Sutton, B. C. (eds) (1985) Contributions to mycology: a tribute to C. T. Ingold on his eightieth birthday. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society of London 91: i–xv, 1–375. Ingold, C. T. (1953) Dispersal in Fungi. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Ingold, C. T. (1965) Spore Liberation. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Ingold, C. T. (1971) Fungal Spores: their liberation and dispersal. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Plunkett, B. E. (1985) Professor Cecil Terence Ingold C.M.G., D.Sc., F.L.S., D. Litt. (Ibadan), Hon. D.Sc. (Exeter), Hon. D.C.L. (Kent). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society of London 91: vii–xv.
John Webster 12 Countess Wear Road, Exeter EX2 6LG, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
doi:10.1017/S0953756205233555
T E R E N C E I N G O L D R EF L E C T S I look back on a happy and interesting life blessed by a splendid wife (who died in 1998), four wonderful children, and five grandchildren. Those of my writings which please me most are : Spore Discharge in Land Plants (Ingold 1939) and
‘Aquatic hyphomycetes of submerged decaying alder leaves ’ (Ingold 1942) – together with the two works not intended for publication, namely Egbert, or the Face on the Egg (made for my first two daughters while the third was appearing in a local nursing home) and
754
doi:10.1017/S0953756205223559
C E N T E N A R Y O F A M Y C O L O G I S T : C . T ER E N C E I N G O L D
Fig. 1. C. Terence Ingold. Photograph by Patsy Healey.
Terence Ingold (Fig. 1), 100 this month (5 July 2005), can truly be described as the grand old man of mycology and we salute him as a man and for his splendid achievements as a research mycologist of first rank, his extensive publications, his ability to draw beautifully and to capture the ‘ jizz ’ of a fungus, his outstanding teaching, his acute powers of observation, his originality, and staying power. His research interests have extended over an exceptionally wide field : chytrids, spore discharge in many ascomycetes (Podospora, Sordaria, Ascobolus, Daldinia, Epichloe¨, Acrospermum) and basidiomycetes (Sphaerobolus, Itersonilia, Tilletiopsis, Bensingtonia), aquatic hyphomycetes, Mucorales, Entomophthorales, aquatic ascomycetes, jelly fungi, smuts, polypores, cytoplasmic flow, retraction septa, and homing. A tribute to Terence was published on the occasion of his 80th birthday (Dick, Pegler & Sutton 1985), and in this Plunkett (1985) listed 174 publications. In the succeeding 20 yr, about 100 further publications have appeared. It is remarkable that he has been able to continue research at home, with simple facilities. Several themes in his research stand out. His name will for ever be associated with aquatic hyphomycetes, first discovered in the Donkey Brook
in Leicestershire, but since found to be abundant in babbling brooks the world over, playing a vital role in leaf processing, nutrient cycling and invertebrate nutrition. Their characteristic spores, trapped in stream foam, enable them to be identified and there is an enormous literature on their ecology. He was a disciple of A. H. Reginald Buller, whose writings (Buller 1909–50) kindled his interest in spore discharge, clearly expounded in three classical and influential text books (Ingold 1953, 1965, 1971). He recognised the potential of Itersonilia perplexans which he had isolated from a jelly fungus in helping to interpret the surface tension catapult mechanism of ballistospore discharge, confirmed recently using ultra high speed digital video cameras by ‘Nik ’ Money et al. (unpubl.). He had followed Buller in suggesting that the surface energy of Buller’s drop might in some way be involved in discharge. Other research topics pursued during ‘retirement ’ have included numerous observations on ustilospore germination in smut fungi, leading to a better understanding of variations in the cytology and behaviour of the basidium in this group. He has served the British Mycological Society twice as President (in 1953 and 1971), and was the President of the first International Mycological Congress (IMC1) in Exeter in 1971. Terence Ingold represents a fast-disappearing kind of mycologist, an all-rounder with an interest in the whole, living fungus. We wish him well and continuing good health. Buller, A. H. R. (1909–50) Researches on Fungi. 7 vols. Longmans Green, London. Dick, M. W., Pegler, D. N. & Sutton, B. C. (eds) (1985) Contributions to mycology: a tribute to C. T. Ingold on his eightieth birthday. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society of London 91: i–xv, 1–375. Ingold, C. T. (1953) Dispersal in Fungi. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Ingold, C. T. (1965) Spore Liberation. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Ingold, C. T. (1971) Fungal Spores: their liberation and dispersal. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Plunkett, B. E. (1985) Professor Cecil Terence Ingold C.M.G., D.Sc., F.L.S., D. Litt. (Ibadan), Hon. D.Sc. (Exeter), Hon. D.C.L. (Kent). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society of London 91: vii–xv.
John Webster 12 Countess Wear Road, Exeter EX2 6LG, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
doi:10.1017/S0953756205233555
T E R E N C E I N G O L D R EF L E C T S I look back on a happy and interesting life blessed by a splendid wife (who died in 1998), four wonderful children, and five grandchildren. Those of my writings which please me most are : Spore Discharge in Land Plants (Ingold 1939) and
‘Aquatic hyphomycetes of submerged decaying alder leaves ’ (Ingold 1942) – together with the two works not intended for publication, namely Egbert, or the Face on the Egg (made for my first two daughters while the third was appearing in a local nursing home) and