Lucien Quélet (July 14, 1832 – August 25, 1899) was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 mycologist and naturalist

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

 who discovered several species and was the founder of the Société mycologique de France, a society devoted to mycological studies.

Quélet, having been born in Montécheroux

Montécheroux

Montécheroux is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-Population:-External links:*...

, Doubs

Doubs

Doubs is a department the Franche-Comté region of eastern France named after the Doubs River.-History:As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the northern two-thirds of Doubs spoke the Franc-Comtois language, a dialect of Langue d'Oïl. Residents of the southern third of Doubs spoke a dialect...

, to a farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

, was soon orphaned, and spent his childhood with and was raised by his aunts. In his youth, he is known to have shown a great interest in mycology and botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 in general, but also other subject areas such as ornithology

Ornithology

Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...

 and malacology

Malacology

Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology which deals with the study of the Mollusca , the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, octopus and squid, and numerous other kinds, many of which have shells...

, the study of mollusks. He was schooled at the Montbéliard

Montbéliard

Montbéliard is a city in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department.-History:...

 college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

, and later studied medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 in Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

.

In 1884, he founded the mycological society known as the Société mycologique de France, of which he became the first president. Several years after this, in 1888, Quélet wrote a book, Flore mycologique de la France et des pays limitrophes (Mycological flora of France and neighbouring countries).

Quélet also described several species during his mycological research. Some are listed below:

• Agaricus bitorquis
  Agaricus bitorquis
  Agaricus bitorquis is an edible white mushroom of the genus Agaricus, similar to the common button mushroom that is sold commercially. The name supersedes Agaricus rodmani...
  
  
• Amanita aspera
• Bondarzewia montana
• Clavariadelphus truncatus
  Clavariadelphus truncatus
  Clavariadelphus truncatus is a species of mushroom. The common name of the species is club coral. It is a member of the Gomphaceae family of Basidiomycete fungi.-Description:...
  
  
• Collybia cirrhata
  Collybia cirrhata
  Collybia cirrhata is a species of fungus in the Tricholomataceae family of the Agaricales order . The species was first described in the scientific literature in 1786, but not validly named until 1803. Found in Europe, Northern Eurasia, and North America, it is known from temperate, boreal, and...
  
  
• Lepiota aspera
  Lepiota aspera
  Lepiota aspera; sometimes known commonly as the Freckled Dapperling, is a large brownish; white gilled mushroom, with a warty or scaly cap...
  
  
• Lepiota castanea
  Lepiota castanea
  Lepiota castanea, commonly known as the chestnut dapperling, is a dangerously poisonous, uncommon, gilled mushroom of the genus Lepiota in the order Agaricales. It is known to contain amatoxins and consuming this fungus can be a potentially lethal proposition. It was described by French mycologist...
  
  
• Russula amethystina
  Russula amethystina
  Russula amethystina is a conspicuous mushroom, which appears sporadically from mid-summer until the autumn under spruce and fir trees. In Northern Europe, it is very rare...
  
  
• Tricholoma pardinum
  Tricholoma pardinum
  Tricholoma pardinum, commonly known as spotted tricholoma, tiger tricholoma, tigertop or dirty trich, is a gilled mushroom widely distributed across North America and Europe, as well as parts of Asia. It is generally found in beech woodland in summer and autumn...
  
  

Numerous taxa

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

 were named after Quélet to honor his contributions to mycology, including the species Amanita queletii, Boletus queletii

Boletus queletii

Boletus queletii otherwise known as the deceiving bolete, is an uncommon, edible mushroom in the genus Boletus. It can be found in deciduous forest, at lower altitudes, mostly under beech.-Description:...

, Entoloma queletii, Russula queletii

Russula queletii

Russula queletii otherwise known as the Gooseberry Russula, is a common, inedible, Russula mushroom found growing in groups, predominantly in spruce forest.Eating this mushroom causes abdominal pains.-Description:...

, and the genus Queletia

Queletia

Queletia is a genus of fungi in the family Agaricaceae.-External links:* at Index Fungorum...

.

Quélet has been described to be a combination of Petter Adolf Karsten

Petter Adolf Karsten

Petter Adolf Karsten was a Finnish mycologist, the foremost expert on the fungi of Finland in his day, and known in consequence as the "father of Finnish mycology"....

 and Paul Kummer

Paul Kummer

Paul Kummer was a priest, teacher, and scientist in Zerbst, Germany, known chiefly for his contribution to mycological nomenclature. Earlier classification of agarics by pioneering fungal taxonomist Elias Magnus Fries designated only a very small number of genera, with most species falling into...

, as far as his conducting of his studies and on his mycological researching skills, as well as by the number of new species he was able to find. Much of Quélet's work proves useful still today, and many of the names given to some of the most common fungi can be traced to Quélet's work.

During the last years of his life, Quélet broadened his range of study, perhaps due to eccentricity, as is claimed by some, and began to have new interests in some of the things that fascinated him as a youth – ornithology and malacology, among others.
In 1899, at the age of sixty-seven, Lucien Quélet died.