P. Hans B. Runemark was a Swedish botanist and lichenologist, emeritus professor at Lund University.
Education
Born in Chicago, United States.A.), he graduated in 1956 at Lund University, having started his studies there on the yellow species of the lichen, Rhizocarpon, in the late 1940s. The work undertaken for his Doctor of Philosophy was subsequently published as a monograph in the journal Botaniska Notiser.
Career
Runemark used the newly discovered technique of paper chromatography as a tool in lichen taxonomy, and his monograph included species descriptions with detailed distribution maps for the Nordic and European regions. His work is still regarded as a useful contribution to the understanding of the genus, and can be considered to be one of the first modern monographs. Having gained his Doctor of Philosophy, Runemark left lichenology and studied the vascular flora of the Aegean Islands in Greece, becoming interested in island endemics.
He used the plants in the archipelago as a laboratory to study evolutionary processes in small plant populations.
Runemark was appointed professor of systematic botany at Lund University from 1970 to 1992.