Elmer Drew Merrill

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elmer Drew Merrill

Elmer Drew Merrill (born October 15, 1876 in Auburn (Maine) , † February 25, 1956 in Forest Hills , Jamaica Plain , Massachusetts ) was an American botanist and long-time director of the Arnold Arboretum . Its official botanical author abbreviation is “ Merr. "

Live and act

In 1898 Merrill received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maine . From 1899 to 1902 he was an assistant at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). From 1900 to 1901 he studied medicine at George Washington University . In 1904 he graduated from the University of Maine with a master's degree .

Merrill was a botanist with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other government and educational institutions in the Philippines from 1902 to 1923. In 1912 he published his work A Flora of Manila . His four-volume work An Enumeration of Philippine Flowering Plants followed from 1922 to 1926 .

In 1921 Merrill was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , in 1923 to the National Academy of Sciences and in 1932 to the American Philosophical Society . From 1945 he was a corresponding member of the Académie des Sciences in Paris. In 1946 he became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . In 1953 he was admitted to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences as a foreign member.

1923 to 1929 was employed at the University of California in Berkeley, California. In 1925 the University of Maine awarded him an honorary doctorate. 1930 to 1935 he was professor of botany at Columbia University and director of the New York Botanical Garden . In 1931 he founded the magazine Britonnia , for which he was also editor until 1935. In 1934 he became president of the Botanical Society of America . In the following year 1935 he went to Harvard University as a professor of botany . From 1935 to 1946 he was director of the Arnold Arboretum attached to Harvard University .

In 1936 and 1950 he was President of the Nomenclature Section at the International Botanical Congress , and in 1946 he was President of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists .

In 1938 he published the Bibliography of Eastern Asiatic Botany with EH Walker . He published his work Plant Life of the Pacific World in 1945. In 1954 he published his work The Botany of Cook's Voyages and Its Unexpected Significance in Relation to Anthropology, Biogeography, and History in the Chronica Botanica .

Merrill died on February 25, 1956 in Forest Hills, Massachusetts.

Taxa named after Merrill

The plant species were named in his honor

named.

The Christmas palm ( Adonidia merrillii (Becc.) Becc. ) Is named after him.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member History: Elmer D. Merrill. American Philosophical Society, accessed November 24, 2018 .
  2. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter M. Académie des sciences, accessed on January 22, 2020 (French).
  3. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed March 21, 2020 .
  4. ^ Past Members: ED Merrill (1876-1956). Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences, accessed January 22, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Merrill, Elmer Drew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American botanist
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Auburn, Maine
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1956
Place of death Forest Hills , Massachusetts