#  Donald H. Pfister 

Asa Gray Research Professor of Systematic Botany

Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany and Curator of the Farlow Library and Herbarium, Emeritus

 

 

 



   ![Don Pfister smiling, with short grey hair and beard, glasses,  pink button down, and taupe quarter-zip](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/oeb/files/don_pfister_crop.jpeg?itok=HLF5a_8m) 

 



 

 location\_on Harvard University Herbaria22 Divinity AvenueCambridge, MA 02138 

 smartphone [617-495-2368](tel:617-495-2368) 

 email <dpfister@oeb.harvard.edu> 

 laptop\_windows [Pfister Lab](http://pfistergroup.oeb.harvard.edu/) 

 laptop\_windows [iDigBio](https://www.idigbio.org/content/portal-curiosities-asa-gray-and-quest-shortia-galacifolia-%E2%80%93-case-study-importance) 

 

 



 

Faculty Support: [Tracy Barbaro](/people/tracy-barbaro)

My research centers on the biology and systematics of fungi, particularly members of the fungus classes Pezizomycetes and the Leotiomycetes, both belonging to ascomycete groups. Using molecular, life history and morphological methods we strive to understand relationships within these groups and to uncover their diversity. In addition, I study the history of collections and collectors.

**Recent Publications**

Bradshaw, M., Quijada, L., Braun, U., Smith, M.E. and D.H. Pfister., 2025. [Powdery Mildews on North American Oaks: High Levels of Diversity and Pathogen‐Host Coevolution](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/efp.70005). *Forest Pathology*, 55(1), p.e70005.

Karakehian, J.M., Rödel, T., Damm, U., Pfister, D.H., Miller, A.N., Truong, C. and T.W. May., 2025. [Specimens in the National Herbarium of Victoria, Australia (MEL) and in Naturalis Biodiversity Center of Leiden, Netherlands (L) associated with Albertini and Schweinitz's Conspectus fungorum in *Lusatiae superioris*](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.13239)*.* *TAXON*, 74(1), pp.174-190.

Bradshaw, M., Uwe, U., Khodaparast, S.A., Mitchell, J.K., Crouch,U., Thomas, J., Hamideh Darsaraei, H. and D.H. Pfister. Apr 2025. [Phylogeny and taxonomy of the genera of Erysiphaceae, part 7: Phyllactinieae](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00275514.2025.2476375), *Mycologia,* 640-700.

Karakehian, J.M., Pfister, D.H. and A.N. Miller. 2024. [Elias Magnus Fries's fungus *exsiccati Scleromyceti Sueciae*: New light on the obscure “fascicle nine.”](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.13168) *TAXON* 73(4): 1062-1069.

Pfister, D.H., LoBuglio, K.F., Bradshaw, M., Lebeuf, R. and A. Voitk, 2024. [*Peziza nivalis* and relatives—spring fungi of wide distribution](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00275514.2024.2370198). *Mycologia*, 116(6), 1019-1032.

Pfister, D.H., Lemmond B., Healy R., LoBuglio K.F., Bonito G., Smith M.E 2024 [*Rugosporella*, a new genus to accommodate the North American species *Peziza atrovinosa* (Pezizaceae) and its predicted ectomycorrhizal status](https://ascomycete.org/Journal/Article/art-0398). *Ascomycete.org*. 16 (3):185–196.

Bradshaw, M.J., Boufford, D., Braun, U., Moparthi, S., Jellings, K., Maust, A., Pandey, B., Slack, S. and D.H. Pfister, 2024. [An in-depth evaluation of powdery mildew hosts reveals one of the world’s most common and widespread groups of fungal plant pathogens](https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/PDIS-07-23-1471-RE). *Plant Disease*, 108(3) 576-581.

Du, X.H., Wang, S.Y., Ryberg, M., Guo, Y.J., Wei, J.Y., Pfister, D.H. and H. Johannesson. 2023. [Cytological studies reveal high variation in ascospore number and shape and conidia produced directly from ascospores in *Morchella galilaea*](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1286501/full). *Frontiers in Microbiology*, 14, p.1286501.



 

 

 





 

 

- ## Building
    
     [Herbaria](/building/huh)
- ## Faculty Affiliation
    
     [Harvard University Herbaria](/faculty-affiliation/harvard-university-herbaria)
- ## Lab Group
    
     [Pfister Lab Members](/lab-group/pfister-lab)
- ## People
    
     [Faculty](/people/faculty) [Emeritus Faculty](/people/emeritus-faculty)
- ## Research Areas
    
     [Evolution](/research-areas/evolution) [Biodiversity &amp; Systematics](/research-areas/biodiversity-and-systematics)
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