Charles Schweinfurth

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the architect, his uncle, see Charles F. Schweinfurth.

Charles Schweinfurth (April 13, 1890 – November 16, 1970) was an American

botanist and plant collector who distinguished himself by his studies on orchids.[1] He predominantly collected species from Peru which he described in his four volume reference work Orchids of Peru (1958). He was a researcher at the Botanical Museum of Harvard University, and director of the Ames Orchid Herbarium where, in 1958, he was succeeded by Leslie Andrew Garay.[2]

Life

Schweinfurth was born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1890, the son of Mary Frances and Julius Adolphe Schweinfurth, a noted architect.[3] In 1909 Schweinfurth entered Harvard University where he majored in chemistry, although his course work included several biology courses such as taxonomic botany. Despite a bout with polio which left his right arm slightly paralyzed, he graduated cum laude in 1913, and entered Harvard graduate school.[4]

In 1914 he took a job tending the living orchid collections of a Harvard professor,

Orchidaceae for his part. This eventually led to his magnum opus the Orchids of Peru[5]

Selected publications

  • 1925. New or noteworthy species of Orchids from the American tropics with Ames, Oakes, Schedulae Orchidianae, No.8, pp. 1 – 91
  • 1939. Notes on a remarkable collection of orchids from Panama. Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University
  • 1967. Orchidaceae of the Guayana Highland

Books

  • Ames, Oakes; Hubbard, F. T. and Schweinfurth, Charles. (1936). The Genus Epidendrum in the United States & Middle America. Botanical Museum Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  • 1958. Orchids of Peru. Chicago Natural Hist. Museum. Publication 837, 868, 885, 913. 4 vols.
    ISBN 0-608-02118-0

Honors and homages

The following plants have been named after Schweinfurth in his honour:

Genera
Species
The standard author abbreviation C.Schweinf. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[9]

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-947643-44-7
    .
  2. ^ Schultes, Richard Evans (1958). "Garay appointed curator of Ames Orchid Herbarium". American Orchid Society Bulletin. 27: 583–584.
  3. ^ "Schweinfurth Art Center History". Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center. Archived from the original on January 1, 2007.
  4. ^ Schultes, Richard Evans (1970). "Charles Schweinfurth, 1890–1970, An Appreciation" (PDF). Botanical Museum Leaflets. 23: 93–99. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 31, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Lankester Botanical Garden (2010). "Biographies" (PDF). Lankesteriana. 10 (2/3): 183–206, page 183. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 May 2014.
  6. ^ Dressler, Robert Louis; Williams, Norris H. (1970). "An overlooked genus in the Oncidiinae". American Orchid Society Bulletin. 39 (11): 988–994, page 991.
  7. ^ Szlachetko, Dariusz; Margonska, Hanna B. (2001). "Genera et Species Ochidalium, 3". Polish Botanical Journal. 46 (2): 113–121, page 118. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  8. ^ Garay, Leslie Andrew (1954). "Illustrations of new or critical Orchids, Pleurothallis schweinfurthii sp.nov". Orchid Journal. 3 (4). California: 188–189.
  9. ^ International Plant Names Index.  C.Schweinf.
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