P. D. Orton
| Peter Darbishire Orton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
28 January 1916 Plymouth, Devon |
| Died | 28 April 2005 (aged 89) |
| Residence | UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Mycology |
| Known for | Contributions to taxonomic mycology |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | P.D.Orton |
Peter Darbishire Orton (28 January 1916 – 7 April 2005) was an English mycologist, specialising in agarics.
Peter Darbishire Orton was born in Plymouth, the son of marine scientist, J.H. Orton. He was educated at Oundle School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read Natural Sciences, Music and History, receiving his degree in 1937. He then studied at the Royal College of Music, interrupted by wartime service in the Royal Artillery. On completing his studies, Orton obtained a position as a music teacher at Epsom College in Surrey.
P.D. Orton became interested in fungi through fellow amateur A.A. Pearson, who was also a keen musician. Specialising, like Pearson, in agarics, Orton developed considerable expertise in identifying species and in 1955 received a Nuffield Foundation grant to work with Dr R.W.G. Dennis, head of mycology at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and F.B. Hora at Reading University on a revised checklist of British agarics and boletes. The resulting New Checklist, published in 1960, was accompanied by 280 pages of descriptive and revisionary notes by Orton, including many new species. It remained the standard reference work for 45 years.
In 1960 Orton took up a position at the newly opened Rannoch School in Perthshire, Scotland, where he taught biology, English, and music. He remained there till he retired in 1981. During this period, he published many papers on Scottish agarics, particularly those collected on his doorstep, in the Caledonian pine woods around Rannoch. He also contributed, with Prof. Roy Watling, to the British Fungus Flora series, published by the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. He frequently visited his friend and fellow mycologist T.J. Wallace in Membury, Devon, publishing a number of new agaric species from Dawlish Warren and other Devon localities.
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