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.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.
Biography 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.
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.Leonard, John W., and Albert N. Marquis. Who's who in America, Volumes 2-4. Marquis Who's Who, 1906.
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.Smith, Annie Morrill. The Early History of the Bryologist and the Sullivant Moss Society. The Bryologist, vol. 20, no. 1, 1917, pp. 1–8. 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.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
Legacy Best's personal herbarium of mosses and publications were absorbed into the collection of the New York Botanical Garden.
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.
Selected publications Best, G. (1896). Revision of the North American Thuidiums. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 23(3), 78–90. Best, G. (1897). Revision of the Claopodiums. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 24(9), 427–432. Best, G. (1900). Revision of the North American Species of Pseudoleskea. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 27(5), 221–236. Best, G. (1901). Revision of the North American Species of Heterocladium. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 28(2), 123–131. Best, G. (1901). Vegetative Reproduction of Mosses. The Bryologist, 4(1), 1º3. Best, G. (1903). Revision of the North American Species of Leskea. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 30(9), 463–482.
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