Gastón Guzmán
Gastón Guzmán is a Mexican mycologist and anthropologist. He is considered the world's foremost authority on the genus Psilocybe.[1]
He was born in Xalapa, Veracruz, in 1932. His interest in mycology began in 1955 when as a graduate student he decided to update his school's (National Polytechnic Institute) poorly kept collection of fungi. During his early field work he found a large assortment of species about which little was known at the time. This inspired him to choose fungi as the topic of his professional thesis.
In 1957, after reading R. Gordon Wasson's article "Seeking the Magic Mushroom", he was invited to go on an expedition to study neurotropic fungi in the Huautla de Jimenez region as an assistant to Dr. Rolf Singer. During the last day of the expedition he met R. Gordon Wasson, this chance meeting resulting in a close friendship between the two men for over 25 years.
In 1958, he published his first paper on a blue-staining Psilocybe species and the first paper on the ecology of neurotropic fungi. In 1971, he received a grant from the Guggenheim Foundation of New York, on the recommendation of Richard Evans Schultes to study the genus Psilocybe, which resulted in a comprehensive book on the subject in 1977. Entitled The Genus Psilocybe: A Systematic Revision of the Known Species Including the History, Distribution and Chemistry of the Hallucinogenic Species, it was published in 1983 by J. Cramer of Vaduz, Germany. He has since authored eight other books and over 350 papers on Mexican mushrooms and has described more than 200 new taxa of fungi worldwide. More than half of the known psilocybin mushroom species were discovered by Dr. Guzmán.
A cofounder and former president of the Mexican Mycological Society, he has also been president of the Latin American Mycological Association (2000–2002), and is a founding member of the Panamanian Mycological Society. Dr. Guzmán currently holds an emeritus research chair at the Ecological Institute of Xalapa where he founded the Department and Herbarium of Fungi. He is also a guide on "Mexican Mushroom Tours."[2]
His daughter Laura Guzman Davalos is also a prominent mycologist.
Further reading
- Guzman, G. "El habitat de Psilocybe muliercula Singer & Smith (=Ps. wassonii Heim), agaricaceo alucinogeno mexicano." Revista de la Sociedad Mexicana de Historia Natural 19: 215-229 (1958).
- Guzman, G. The Genus Psilocybe: A Systematic Revision of the Known Species Including the History, Distribution and Chemistry of the Hallucinogenic Species. Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia Heft 74. J. Cramer, Vaduz, Germany (1983) [now out of print].
- Guzman, G. "Wasson and the development of Mycology in Mexico." In: Riedlinger, T.J. (Ed.) The Sacred Mushroom Seeker: Essays for R. Gordon Wasson. Ethnomycological Studies No. 11, pp. 83–110. Dioscorides Press, Portland, OR (1990).
- Guzman, G. "The Sacred Mushroom in Mesoamerica." In: Miyanishi, T. (Ed.) The Ancient Maya and Hallucinogens, pp. 75–95. Wakayama University, Wakayama, Japan (1992).
- Guzman, G. "Supplement to the genus Psilocybe." Bibliotheca Mycologica 159: 91-141 (1995).
- Guzman, G. Los Nombres de los Hongos y lo Relacionado con Ellos en America Latina. Instituto de Ecologia, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico (1997).
- Guzman, G. "Inventorying the fungi of Mexico." Biodiversity and Conservation 7: 365-384 (1997).
- Guzman, G. and J. Ott. "Description and chemical analysis of a new species of hallucinogenic Psilocybe from the Pacific Northwest." Mycologia 68: 1261-1267 (1976).
- Guzman, G. and S.H. Pollock. "A new bluing species of Psilocybe from Florida." Mycotaxon 7: 373-376 (1978).
- Guzman, G. and S.H. Pollock. "Tres nuevas especies y dos nuevos registros de los hongos alucinogenos en Mexico y datos sobre su cultivo en el laboratorio." Bol Soc Mex Mic 13: 261-270 (1979).
- Guzman, G., C. King, and V.M. Bandala. "A new species of Psilocybe of section Zapotecorum from New Zealand." Mycological Research 95(4): 507-508 (1991).
- Guzman, G., L. Montoya Bello, and V.M. Bandala. "Nuevos registros de los hongos alucinogenos del genero Psilocybe en Mexico y analisis de la distribucion de las especies conocidas." Revista Mexicana de Micologia 4: 255-265 (1988).
- Guzman, G., V.M. Bandala, and C. King. "Further observations on the genus Psilocybe from New Zealand." Mycotaxon 46: 161-170 (1993).
- Guzman, G., V.M. Bandala, and J.W. Allen. "A new bluing Psilocybe from Thailand." Mycotaxon 46: 155-160 (1993).
- Guzman, G. et al. "A new bluing Psilocybe from U.S.A." Mycotaxon 65: 191-196 (1997).
References
- ^ "Dr. Gaston Guzman". Stainblue.com. http://www.stainblue.com/guzman.htm.
- ^ Mushroom tours in Mexico
- ^ "Author Query". International Plant Names Index. http://www.ipni.org/ipni/authorsearchpage.do.
http://www.mushplanet.com/vip_en_gguzman.php
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Guzman, Gaston |
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1932 |
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