Benjamin Clemens Masterman Stone (February 7, 1933,

Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

– March 19, 1994

Philippine National Museum The National Museum of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas}) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, anthropological, archaeological, and vis ...

) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

–

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. Stone was born in Shanghai, China to a British father, who worked for the government, and an American mother. He graduated from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popul ...

and, in 1960, received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. Between 1961 and 1965, he was a faculty biologist at the

University of Guam University of Guam ( ch, Unibetsedåt Guåhan) (U.O.G.) is a public land-grant university in Mangilao, Guam. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and offers thirty-four degree programs at the undergraduate level a ...

, where he started an

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

, founded the journal ''Micronesica'', and started collecting plant specimens which would form the basis of his book ''Flora of Guam''. He was a professor of botany at the

University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

from 1965 to 1984, during which time he helped to advance the KLU herbarium and the university's

Rimba Ilmu Botanical Gardens Rimba Ilmu (literally ''forest of knowledge'') is a tropical botanical garden set up by the late Professor W.R. Stanton in 1974 on the campus of the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The garden has over 1,600 species of plants occup ...

. Stone became the Botany Department Chair of the

Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

and participated actively in its Flora of the Philippines Project. For this he spent time with the

Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

and, later, the

Botanical Research Institute of Texas The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) is a botanical research institute located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1987 for the herbarium and botanical library collections of Lloyd H. Shinners from Southern Meth ...

(BRIT) in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. Stone travelled frequently to the Asian tropics and authored over 300 publications. He was especially noted for his skill in drawing botanical specimens. The pitcher plant ''

Nepenthes benstonei ''Nepenthes benstonei'' is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, where it grows at elevations of 150–1350 m above sea level.McPherson, S.R. & A. Robinson 2012. '' Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Peninsular Malaysi ...

'' was named in his honour.Clarke, C.M. 1999. ''Nepenthes benstonei'' (Nepenthaceae), a new pitcher plant from Peninsular Malaysia. ''Sandakania'' 13: 79–87. He died unexpectedly at his work bench at the herbarium of the Philippine National Museum, aged 61.

Publications

* ''The Flora of Namonuito and the Hall Islands'' (1959) * ''The Genus'' '' Pelea''

A.Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His '' Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually exc ...

(Rutaceae; Evodiinae): A Taxonomic Monograph (1969) * ''Flora of Guam: A Manual for the Identification of the Vascular Plants of the Island'' (1971) * ''The Summit Flora of Gunung Ulu Kali (Pahang, Malaysia)'' (1981)

References

Aluka
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Benjamin Clemens 1933 births 1994 deaths University of Guam faculty 20th-century American botanists Pomona College alumni University of Malaya faculty Drexel University faculty