William Nylander (botanist)

William Nylander (1885)

William (Wilhem) Nylander (3 January 1822 – 29 March 1899)[1] was a Finnish botanist and entomologist. Nylander was born in Oulu, and taught at the University of Helsinki before moving to Paris, France, where he lived until his death in 1899.

Nylander studied medicine, receiving a degree in 1847. Nylander pioneered the technique of determining the taxonomy of lichens by the use of chemical reagents, such as potassium hydroxide, tinctures of iodine and calcium hypochlorite, still used by lichenologists as the K and C tests.[2]

Nylander was the first to realise the effect of atmospheric pollution on the growth of lichens, an important discovery that paved the way for the use of lichens to detect pollution and determine the cleanness of air. His brother Fredrik Nylander was also a botanist.

Nylander was one of the most prolific authors of new fungal and lichen species, having formally described about 3700 in his career.[3] He edited the exsiccata series Herbarium lichenum Parisiensium, quod edidit William Nylander Med. Dr.[4]

The standard author abbreviation Nyl. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[5]
  1. ^ Kotivuori, Yrjö (2005). "William Nylander". Ylioppilasmatrikkeli 1640–1852 (The alumni book) (in Finnish). Helsingin yliopisto. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  2. ^ Vitikainen, Orvo (2001). "William Nylander (1822–1899) and Lichen Chemotaxonomy". The Bryologist. 104 (2): 263–267. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(2001)104[0263:WNALC]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0007-2745. JSTOR 3244891. S2CID 85930554.
  3. ^ Lücking, Robert (2020). "Three challenges to contemporaneous taxonomy from a licheno-mycological perspective". Megataxa. 1 (1): 78–103 [85]. doi:10.11646/megataxa.1.1.16.
  4. ^ "Herbarium lichenum Parisiensium, quod edidit William Nylander Med. Dr.: IndExs ExsiccataID=396082639". IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae. Botanische Staatssammlung München. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  5. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Nyl.