X-Nico

3 unusual facts about Mordecai Cubitt Cooke


Ceratobasidium noxium

The fungus responsible for kole-roga of coffee was sent from India to Mordecai Cubitt Cooke at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew who named it Pellicularia koleroga in 1876.

Mordecai Cubitt Cooke

He was awarded several honorary diplomas for his work, primarily with fungi, a Master of Arts from St. Lawrence University in 1870, a Master of Arts from Yale University in 1873 and a doctorate from the New York University.

He received the Victoria Medal of Honour from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1902 and the Linnean Medal from the Linnean Society of London in 1903.


Laccocephalum mylittae

It was originally described as Polyporus mylittae by Mordecai Cubitt Cooke and George Edward Massee in 1893, before being placed in the small genus Laccocephalum by Núñez and Leif Ryvarden in 1995.

William Leigh Williamson Eyre

His collections of new and interesting fungal species, mostly made in the Swarraton area, were for the most part passed on to and described by contemporary mycologists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, namely M.C. Cooke, George Massee, and E.M. Wakefield.


see also