Adolf Hugo Magnusson

He was a school teacher in Gothenburg from 1909 to 1948, but spent his spare time on the study of lichens. He described about 900 new taxa, specializing in the genera Lecidea, Lecanora, Caloplaca, and Acarospora.

Magnusson began studying botany at Uppsala University in 1904, but was forced to cancel his studies for financial reasons after only a year and instead became educated as a primary school teacher. In 1909 he was enrolled at the University of Gothenburg, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1913 and a philosophy degree in 1914. He worked as a schoolteacher until his retirement.

Magnusson became an internationally renowned lichenologist who described about 900 species in about 150 scientific publications. He studied all kinds of lichens, but was particularly interested in crustose lichens such as Acarospora, Caloplaca, Lecanora, Lecidea, and Rinodina. Magnusson identified more than 900 lichen specimens collected by Finnish amateur botanist Mårten Magnus Brenner [fi] during the Yenisey river expedition in 1876.

Among Magnusson's publications is a monograph on the lichens in Hawaii, and a review of the lichens collected by Sven Hedin in Central Asia. He became an honorary doctor of philosophy at Uppsala University in 1932 and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Gothenburg in 1956. Magnusson's collections, numbering around 70,000 specimens, are kept at Uppsala University.

Magnusson has had several lichen taxa named in his honour. These include: Magnussoniolichen Tomas & Cif. (1952) Magnussoniomyces Cif. & Tomas (1953), Acarospora magnussonii Samp. (1924), Caloplaca magni-filii Poelt. (1958), C. magnussoniana S.Y.Konr., Kärnefelt & A.Thell (2011), C. magnussonii Herre (1953), Cetraria magnussonii Llano (1951), Cladonia magnussonii Ahti (1961), Dermatocarpon magnussonii Werner (1951), Involucrothele magnussonii Servít (1953), Lecanora magnussoniana Hafellner & Türk (2001), L. magnussonii Maheu & Werner (1934), Lecidea magnussonii Lynge (1937), Leptogium magnussonii Degel. & P.M.Jørg (1994), Physcia magnussonii Frey (1952), Polyblastia magnussoniana Servít (1953), Rinodina magnussoniana Reichert & Galun (1958), Rinodina magnussonii Brodo (1990), Sarcogyne magnussonii B.De Lesd. (1932), Squamarina magnussonii Frey & Poelt (1958), Thelocarpon magnussonii G.Salisb. (1953), Umbilicaria magnussonii Llano (1950), and Verrucaria magnussoniana Servít (1952).

• Category:Taxa named by Adolf Hugo Magnusson