Edwin Lanfranco (botanist) writes:
The recent passing away, aged 93, of Michael Briffa has deprived Malta of one of the most significant researchers in botany of the last half century.
Briffa started to interest himself in botany comparatively late in life when he was in his 50s. In the mid-1970s, he started to attend regularly the country walks organised by the Society for the Study and Conservation of Nature (SSCN), an earlier incarnation of what is now Nature Trust.
He became passionate about the subject and, in addition to SSCN visits, he started to roam the countryside on his own or with friends, including myself. He used to photograph all the species he encountered. His photographs were carefully catalogued with all relevant details such that they are now precious documents.
The Maltese countryside has changed a great deal since then – mainly for the worse.
By profession he was a telegraphist and, at one point in the late 1970s, he was transferred to the branch at Ta’ Wied Rini, close to Mtaħleb. That proved to be a godsend. Whenever he had some spare time, he would roam around the countryside, resulting in numerous new records of plants.
It also sparked his interest in mushrooms. These have not been systematically studied in detail since 1915. He used to visit all the places which were likely haunts for mushrooms. Ta’ Wied Rini was one of them; others include Buskett and Wied Għollieqa, near the university.
In time, he became an expert on the study of mushrooms and added several species to what was previously known; this eventually resulted in the publication of a paper, jointly with myself, wherein numerous species new to Malta were recorded.
His interest in mushrooms also sparked an interest in another very interesting group of fungus-like organisms, the so-called ‘slime moulds’. These had never been studied in detail in Malta and he started to explore likely haunts for these strange creatures, eventually resulting in the publication of a paper listing some 70 species with details of localities and habitats.
Slime moulds are strange creatures – the stuff of science fiction. They are actually giant amoebae which crawl over their substrates devouring micro-organisms. Eventually, they develop exquisite small fungus-like fruiting bodies to disperse their spores. Their scientific name, Mycetozoa, literally means fungus animals.
In recognition of his contribution, in 2017, Briffa was awarded the Buonamico Prize by the Environment and Resources Authority. He remained active in botany to the very end, also publishing several contributions on the subject which he loved so much. He will be much missed by his family, friends and the botanical community.