Oakes Ames (botanist)

Oakes Ames (born September 26, 1874 in North Easton , Massachusetts , † April 28, 1950 in Ormond , Florida ) was an American botanist . Ames was a specialist in orchids . Its official botanical author's abbreviation is " Ames ".

Live and act

Oakes Ames was the youngest son of Governor Oliver Ames and Anna C. Ames of North Easton, Massachusetts. He was the grandson of the industrialist and politician of the same name, Oakes Ames (1804–1873).

His father owned several greenhouses. The young Oakes Ames collected his first orchids when he was 15. He studied at Harvard University , where he received his AB in 1898 and a Master's degree in 1899. During his student days he met butler Ames of Lowell , with whom he was not related, and whose sister he married Blanche Ames in 1900.

In 1900 he was hired as an Instructor of Botany . From 1909 to 1922 he was director of the Botanical Garden, but held a large number of other offices. He was curator (1923–1927), “supervisor” (1927–1937), director (1937–1945) and deputy director (1945–1950) of the Botanic Museum at Harvard University; he was also Chairman of the Division of Biology (1926-1935) and Chairman of the Council of Botanical Collections , supervisor of the Biological Laboratory , the Atkins Garden in Cuba and the Arnold Arboretum (1927-1935). In his teaching activities he was an Instructor in Botany (1900-1910), Associate Professor of Botany (1915-1926), Professor of Botany (1926-1932) and Arnold Professor of Botany (1932-1935). From 1935 to 1941 he was Research Professor of Botany . Ames established the Ames Botanical Laboratory , which became a world-renowned center for orchid and crop research.

Ames' wife Blanche took orchid studies from him and worked with him for a lifetime. She made the illustrations for Oakes Ames' seven-volume work Orchidaceae: Illustrations and Studies of the Family Orchidaceae (published 1905 to 1922).

Oakes Ames was also interested in the botany of useful plants.

membership

Ames was a member of many scientific and botanical societies:

• American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1911)
• American Orchid Society
• American Society of Naturalists
• Association Internationale des Botanistes
• Biological Society of Washington
• Boston Society of Natural History
• Botanical Society of America
• Canal Zone Orchid Society
• Linnean Society of London
• National Institute of Social Science
• New England Botanical Club
• New York Academy of Science
• Orchid Circle of Ceylon
• Sigma Xi
• Torrey Botanical Club
• Washington Academy of Science

Honors

Harvard University's herbarium, the Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium , bears his name. The plant genera Amesiodendron Hu from the soap tree family (Sapindaceae), Amesia A.Nelson & JFMacbr. and Amesiella Schltr. ex Garay from the orchid family (Orchidaceae) have been named after him.

Works

• Orchidaceae: Illustrations and Studies of the Family Orchidaceae, issuing from the Ames Botanical Laboratory, North Easton, Massachusetts. fasc. 1-7 . Boston 1905–1922 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.15433
• Notes on Philippine Orchids with Descriptions of New Species . Manila 1909–1920 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.15399
• Catalog of the Library of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University . Cosmos Press, Cambridge 1914–1933 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.13657
• with Donovan Stewart Correll : Orchids of Guatemala . Chicago Natural History Museum 1952–1953 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.2380
• with Donovan Stewart Correll : Supplement to Orchids of Guatemala, and British Honduras . Chicago Natural History Museum 1965 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.4816

literature

• Paul C. Mangelsdorf: Oakes Ames 1874-: A Biographical Sketch . In: Orchids in Retrospect . Botanical Museum of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1948, p. ix-xv .
• Reed C. Rollins: The End of a Generation of Harvard Botanists . In: Taxon . tape 1 , no. 1 , 1951, p. 3-4 .
• Karl Sax: Oakes Ames, 1874-1950 . In: Journal of the Arnold Arboretum . tape 31 , p. 335–337 (with subsequent list of publications on pp. 337–349).
• Richard E. Schultes: Oakes Ames, 1874-1950 . In: Rhodora . tape 53 , no. 627 , 1951, pp. 67-78 .
• SB Sutton: The Arboretum Administrators: An Opinionated History . In: Arnoldia . tape 32 , no. 1 , 1972, p. 3-21 .

swell

• Robert Zander : Zander concise dictionary of plant names . Ed .: Fritz Encke , Günther Buchheim, Siegmund Seybold . 13th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-8001-5042-5 .

Single references

1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names . Extended Edition. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Free University Berlin Berlin 2018. [1]

Web links

• Author entry and list of the described plant names for Oakes Ames (botanist) at the IPNI
• Short biography at mass.gov (engl.)
• Short biography and further short biography at Harvard University (engl.)