George Newton Best (October 16, 1846 – June 18, 1926) was an American bryologist, expert on moss taxonomy, and second president of the Sullivant Moss Society.[1][2]

George Newton Best
BornOctober 16, 1846
DiedJune 18, 1926 (1926-06-19) (aged 79)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
Known forPlant taxonomy
Scientific career
FieldsBryology, Medicine
InstitutionsRiegelsville High School
Author abbrev. (botany)Best

Biography

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Best attended Lafayette College for three years before leaving to teach high school in Riegelsville, Pennsylvania. He resumed his education at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in medicine in 1875. He took up his medical practice in the Rosemont section of Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey.[2]

Best was also a prominent bryologist, contributing often to Torrey Botanical Club publications. He was instrumental in revising and reclassifying many moss genera, including Thuidium, Claopodium, Heterocladium, Leskea, and Pseudoleskea.[3]

Best served as associate editor of The Bryologist from 1911 until his death, and as president of the Sullivant Moss Society from 1901 to 1902.[1][4] Best was also a member of the Medical Society of New Jersey, American Medical Association, and Torrey Botanical Club. He died on June 18, 1926.[5]

Legacy

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Best's personal herbarium of mosses and publications were absorbed into the collection of the New York Botanical Garden.[5]

In 1906, botanist Broth. published Bestia, which is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Lembophyllaceae and it was named in George Newton Best's honour.[6]

Selected publications

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  • Best, G. (1896). Revision of the North American Thuidiums. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 23(3), 78–90. doi:10.2307/2478118
  • Best, G. (1897). Revision of the Claopodiums. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 24(9), 427–432. doi:10.2307/2477924
  • Best, G. (1900). Revision of the North American Species of Pseudoleskea. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 27(5), 221–236. doi:10.2307/2485378
  • Best, G. (1901). Revision of the North American Species of Heterocladium. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 28(2), 123–131. doi:10.2307/2477888
  • Best, G. (1901). Vegetative Reproduction of Mosses. The Bryologist, 4(1), 1º3. doi:10.2307/3238870
  • Best, G. (1903). Revision of the North American Species of Leskea. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 30(9), 463–482. doi:10.2307/2478535

The standard author abbreviation Best is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b Presidents of ABLS, The American Bryological and Lichenological Society, retrieved 2019-09-28.
  2. ^ a b Snell, James P., and Franklin Ellis. History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey: with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Everts & Peck, 1881.
  3. ^ Leonard, John W., and Albert N. Marquis. Who's who in America, Volumes 2-4. Marquis Who's Who, 1906.
  4. ^ Smith, Annie Morrill. The Early History of the Bryologist and the Sullivant Moss Society. The Bryologist, vol. 20, no. 1, 1917, pp. 1–8. JSTOR 3238019
  5. ^ a b Beals, A. T. Dr. George N. Best, 1846-1926. The Bryologist, vol. 30, no. 2, 1927, pp. 20–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3238332
  6. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. S2CID 246307410. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  7. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Best.