On Børgesen’s collection
Frederik Børgesen (approx. 1940)
The Natural History Museum obtained Frederik Christian Emil Børgesen’s desmid collection in 1963 from Børgesen’s widow.
The collection comprises material collected on Bornholm, but also at several localities on Sealand, and 6 slides are based on material from Iceland. The material from Sealand was never published, but Børgesen (1899) made a publication on the freshwater algae of Iceland which included 58 desmid species. However, only two of these species (Cosmarium botrytis, Staurastrum hexaceros) are represented in the slides.
Børgesen (1889) also made a small publication on his observations from Bornholm. Even though he regarded it to be a small supplement to the previous publication by Nordstedt (1888), 44 additional species including 5 new species/varieties were found. The publication on desmids of Bornholm was Børgesen’s first, made while still a student as he finished his studies at University of Copenhagen in 1891.
Subsequently, he became best known for his comprehensive studies on marine macroalgae from various parts of the world, e.g. the Faeroes, the Danish West Indies and the Canary Islands (Christensen 1913, Kristiansen 1996). See also Phycological Trailblazer no 5 Frederik Børgesen.
Unfortunately, most slides are in bad condition due to desiccation of the mounting medium and in many slides it is not possible to find any specimens.
References
Børgesen, F. 1889. Et lille Bidrag til Bornholms Desmidie-flora. Botanisk Tidskrift 17: 141-152.
Børgesen, F. 1899. Nogle ferskvandsalger fra Island. 22: 131-138.
Christensen, C. 1913. Den danske botaniske litteratur 1880-1911. Hagerup’s Forlag, København.
Kristiansen, Aa. 1996. Frederik Børgesen (1866-1956). In: Prominent Phycologists of the 20th Century edited by D.J. Garbary and M.J. Wynne.
Nordstedt, O. (1888) Desmidiaceer från Bornholm, samlade och delvis bestämda af R.T. Hoff, granskade af O. Nordstedt. Vidensk. Medd. Naturhist. Forening Kjøbenhavn 182-211, + 1 pl.