Alexander William Evans (May 17, 1868 – December 6, 1959) was a botanist, bryologist, and mycologist that specialized in the flora of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Early life

Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

on May 17, 1868, Evan's family moved to

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

after the death of his father. After graduation from

Hillhouse High School James Hillhouse High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in New Haven, Connecticut. It serves grades 9–12. James Hillhouse High School is the oldest public high school in New Haven, and is part of the New Haven Public Scho ...

, Evans received his Ph.B. from the

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffiel ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1890. An excellent student, Evans was among the top of his class. Two years later, Evans earned his

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

from the

Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...

. After a two-year internship at the

Yale-New Haven Hospital Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 1,541-bed hospital located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned and operated by the Yale New Haven Health System. YNHH includes the 168-bed Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven, the 201-bed Yale New Have ...

, he went to the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

to briefly study botany under

Leopold Kny Carl Ignaz Leopold Kny (6 July 1841 – 26 June 1916) was a German botanist, notable as a specialist in research involving the morphology of fungi and cryptogams. He is well known for his production of the ''Botanische Wandtafeln''. Early lif ...

. John R. Reeder, Charlotte G. Reeder. 1960. Alexander William Evans (1868-1959). Rhodora 62 (741): 245-250 (1960)

Career

After the death of

Daniel Cady Eaton Daniel Cady Eaton (September 12, 1834 – June 29, 1895) was an American botanist and author. After studies at the Rensselaer Institute in Troy and Russell's military school in New Haven,"Daniel Cady Eaton", ''American Journal of Science'', A ...

, Evans returned to Yale as a botanical instructor. He became assistant professor in 1901 before being promoted to full professorship in 1906. In 1912, Evans was elected vice president of the Botanical Society of America. Evans served as the editor-in-chief of the Bulletin of Torrey Botanical Club from 1914 to 1924, and also served as associate editor for The Bryologist. He became a member of the

British Bryological Society The British Bryological Society is an academic society dedicated to bryology, which encourages the study of bryophytes ( mosses, liverworts and hornworts). It publishes the peer-reviewed ''Journal of Bryology''. History The Society developed f ...

in 1934. He retired as a professor in 1936, but remained at Yale as an emeritus. In 1947, Yale awarded Evans an honorary Sc.D degree. Throughout his lifetime, Evans authored 165 research papers, many of which were self illustrated. His research was mostly focused on the

Hepaticae The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of g ...

, but he also had special interest in the

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Cladonia ''Cladonia'' is a genus of moss-like lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer/caribou. ''Cladonia'' species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or the Nenets ...

''. Later in life, Evans became enraptured by

Yasuhiko Asahina Yasuhiko Asahina (朝比奈泰彦 ''Asahina Yasuhiko''; April 16, 1881 – June 30, 1975) was a Japanese chemist and lichenologist. Early life During his childhood, Asahina developed an interest in plants. In 1902, he enrolled in the School of ...

's work on the microchemical methods of lichen, which he believed he could apply to taxonomy.

Legacy

Evans described 8 new genera and 130 new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of liverworts. Many of his specimens are held in the Yale Herbarium, dating back to 1888. A list of Evans' publications on lichens is given in Mason Hale's 1960 summary of his lichenological work.

Selected publications

*Evans, A. W. (1898). ''The Hawaiian Hepaticae of the Tribe Jubuloideae''. The Academy. *Evans, A. W. and G. E. Nichols (1908)
''The Bryophytes of Connecticut''
Conn. Geol. & Nat. Hist. Surv., Bull. 11: 1–203. *Evans, A. W. and G. E. Nichols (1935). ''The liverwort flora of the Upper Michigan Peninsula''. The Bryologist 38: 81–91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Alexander William American botanists Botanists with author abbreviations 1868 births 1959 deaths Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni Yale University faculty American lichenologists