Gertrude Simmons Burlingham (April 21, 1872 – January 11, 1952) was an early 20th-century mycologist best known for her work on American Russula and Lactarius and pioneering the use of microscopic spore features and iodine staining for species identification.
[1][2][7] As a postgraduate, she worked primarily at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) under an agreement between that institution and Columbia University for doctoral studies, the first woman to gain a Ph.D. from the program.
[10] Russula specialist Ray Fatto credited Burlingham with noting the importance of spore ornamentation in separating the species of this notoriously troublesome genus.
[1][2] She collected primarily in the Northeast and Florida, but also the Pacific Northwest and on one occasion, traveled to Scandinavia in 1930 where she worked with Lars Romell, Seth Lundell and Jakob Lange.
[1] Her papers, personal library (including some rare early works) and 10,000 specimens herbarium were bequeathed to the NYBG,[1][15] where she funded a fellowship to allow for students of mycology to use the garden's facilities.