Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 10, 2026

Ruth Ellen Berkeley

Ruth Ellen Berkeley was an English mycologist, collector of fungi specimens and scientific botanical illustrator. She is known for her specimen collections as well as her illustrations of British fungi particularly in Mordecai Cubitt Cooke's book Illustrations of British Fungi (Hymenomycetes). Her father, the mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley, named a fungal species Agaricus ruthae in her honour.

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Ruth Ellen Berkeley
Born1845
King's Cliffe, Northamptonshire
Died16 June 1914 (aged 68)1
Devon, England
Known forbotanical illustration

Ruth Ellen Berkeley (bapt. 1 October 18452 – 16 June 1914) was an English mycologist, collector of fungi specimens and scientific botanical illustrator.34 She is known for her specimen collections as well as her illustrations of British fungi particularly in Mordecai Cubitt Cooke's book Illustrations of British Fungi (Hymenomycetes).5 Her father, the mycologist Miles Joseph Berkeley, named a fungal species Agaricus ruthae (now known as Pleurotus ruthae) in her honour.6

  • lithographic plate in color, showing 5 views of two varieties of mushrooms Agaricus Pleurotus, fanned out and side views, illustrated by Miles Joseph Berkeley (top) and Ruth Ellen Berkeley (bottom)
    Ruth's illustration of the fungus that bears her name; her initials appear at bottom of the plate.
References

References

  1. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966, 1973-1995
  2. Northamptonshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1912
  3. Berkeley, M. J.; Broome, C. E. (1882-03-01). "XXI.—Notices of British fungi". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 9 (51): 176–183. doi:10.1080/00222938209459019.
  4. Berkeley, Rev M. J.; Broome, C. E. (1879-03-01). "XXIV.—Notices of British fungi". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 3 (15): 202–212.
  5. Cooke, Mordecai Cubitt; Cooke, M. C. (1881). Illustrations of British Fungi (Hymenomycetes), to serve as an atlas to the "Handbook of British Fungi". London: Williams and Norgate. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.31343.
  6. Millman, Lawrence (2019). Fungipedia : a brief compendium of mushroom lore. Amy Jean Porter. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-691-19538-4. OCLC 1103605862.