William Murrill, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

William Murrill

American botanist and mycologist (1869–1957)

Date of Birth: 13-Nov-1869

Place of Birth: Lynchburg, Virginia, United States

Date of Death: 25-Dec-1957

Profession: curator, botanist, mycologist

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

William Alphonso Murrill (13 October 1869 – 25 December 1957) was an American mycologist, known for his contributions to the knowledge of the Agaricales and Polyporaceae.
In 1904, he became the assistant Curator at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG).
He, along with the NYBG, founded the journal Mycologia and was its first editor for 16 years.
Murrill was known to travel extensively to describe the mycota of Europe and the Americas.
He traveled along the East Coast, Pacific Coast, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Although Murrill was a very influential person at the NYBG, having worked his way up to become assistant director in 1908, his rather eccentric personality caused problems with his job.
He went on annual collecting trips to Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, and South America, sometimes, without informing any of his colleagues prior.
These trips resulted in a cumulative total of 70,000 specimens, 1,400 of which are deposited in the NYBG.