Gastón Guzmán facts for kids

Gastón Guzmán Huerta (born August 26, 1932 – died January 12, 2016) was a famous Mexican scientist. He studied mycology, which is the study of fungi (like mushrooms). He was also an anthropologist, meaning he studied human societies and cultures.

Gastón Guzmán's Career and Discoveries

Gastón Guzmán was born in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, in 1932. His interest in fungi started in 1955. At that time, he was a student and decided to improve his school's collection of fungi.

While working, he found many types of fungi that scientists didn't know much about. This made him want to learn more. He chose fungi as the main topic for his professional studies.

Leading Mycological Societies

Gastón Guzmán helped start the Mexican Mycological Society in 1965. He was also its first president. Later, he became president of the Latin American Mycological Association from 2000 to 2002. He had founded this association in La Habana, Cuba, in 1990.

Building Fungi Collections

Guzmán was a respected researcher at the Ecological Institute of Xalapa. There, he started the Department and Herbarium of Fungi. A herbarium is like a museum for dried plant and fungi specimens. This collection now has over 50,000 different fungi samples!

In 1955, he also started the Mycological Herbarium at the National School of Biological Sciences (ENCB) in Mexico City. This collection is the largest in Mexico, with more than 100,000 fungi specimens.

Gastón Guzmán's Family Life

Gastón Guzmán's daughter, Laura Guzmán Dávalos, followed in his footsteps. She is also a well-known mycologist. She started the Mycology Department at the University of Guadalajara.

Gastón Guzmán passed away in Guadalajara, Mexico, on January 12, 2016. He was 83 years old.

Fungi Named After Gastón Guzmán

Many species of fungi have been named in honor of Gastón Guzmán. This is a special way to recognize his important work in mycology. Here are some of them:

• Crepidotus guzmanii Singer 1973
• Fistulina guzmanii Brusis 1973
• Marasmiellus guzmanii Singer 1973
• Pseudohiatula guzmaniana Singer 1973
• Marasmius guzmanianus Singer 1976
• Neotremella guzmanii Lowy 1979
• Psilocybe guzmanii Natarajan & Raman 1983
• Amanita guzmanii Cifuentes, Villegas & G.Santiago 1984
• Entoloma guzmanii Courtec. 1986
• Antromycopsis guzmanii Stalpers, Seifert & Samson 1991
• Phylloporus guzmanii Montoya & Bandala 1991
• Pseudocyphellaria guzmanii D.J.Galloway 1992
• Rhizopogon guzmanii Trappe & Cázares 1992
• Camillea guzmanii F.San Martín & J.D.Rogers 1993
• Coralloderma guzmanii A.L.Welden 1993
• Phaeocollybia guzmanii Bandala & Montoya 1994
• Suillus guzmanii G.Moreno, Bandala & Montoya 1997
• Tuber guzmanii Trappe & Cázares 2006
• Calvatia guzmanii C.R.Alves & Cortez 2012
• Cora guzmaniana Moncada, R.-E.Pérez & Lücking 2019

Selected Books and Papers by Gastón Guzmán

Gastón Guzmán wrote many important books and scientific papers about fungi. Here are a few examples:

• Guzmán, G. "The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico." This paper was part of a larger book about R. Gordon Wasson, another famous mushroom researcher (1990).
• Guzmán, G. "The Names of Fungi and Related Topics in Latin America." This book was published in Xalapa, Mexico (1997).
• Guzmán, G. "Inventorying the fungi of Mexico." This article discussed finding and listing all the fungi in Mexico (1997).
• Guzmán, G. et al. "A Church Dedicated to the Worship of a Mushroom, 'Our Lord of the Little Mushroom,' in Chignahuapan, Puebla." This paper explored a unique cultural practice (1975).
• Guzmán, G. "The Fungi of El Edén, Quintana Roo: Introduction to the Tropical Mycobiota of Mexico." This book focused on fungi in a specific tropical region of Mexico (2003).
• Guzmán, G., M. Piepenbring, "The Fungi of Panama. Introduction to the identification of macroscopic fungi." This book helped people identify larger fungi in Panama (2011).

See also

In Spanish: Gastón Guzmán para niños

• List of mycologists
• Category:Taxa named by Gastón Guzmán