William Alphonso Murrill

William Alphonso Murrill (October 13, 1869 – December 25, 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. Murrill might have issued an exsiccata series under the title Polyporaceae of North America.

Family life Murrill married Edna Lee Lutrell on September 1, 1897. The two had an only child during their marriage, a boy born in 1899, who died in his infancy. This death would contribute to problems further on in their marriage, ultimately resulting in divorce in 1924.

Publications Murrill had 510 publications, including mycological and botanical papers and notes, general notes, miscellaneous reports, reviews, biographies, and popular articles on natural history.

Species Described During his time, Murrill described some 1453 new species and varieties of Agaricales, Boletales, and Polyporales. Four genera he described are still valid to this day, Marasmiellus, Polymarasmius, Suillellus, and Volvariopsis. Most type specimens reside in NY and FLAS, but some are located at the University of Michigan (MICH), and University of Tennessee (TENN)