Parry circa 1875 Charles Christopher Parry (August 28, 1823 – February 20, 1890) was a British-American

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 ...

and

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

Biography

Parry was born in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, but moved to the United States with his parents in 1832, settling first in

Washington County, New York Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,302. The county seat is Fort Edward. The county was named for U.S. President George Washington. Washington County is part of the Glen ...

. He studied

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and botany under

John Torrey John Torrey (August 15, 1796 – March 10, 1873) was an American botany, botanist, chemist, and physician. Throughout much of his career, he was a teacher of chemistry, often at multiple universities, while he also pursued botanical work, focus ...

Asa 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 excl ...

and

George Engelmann George Engelmann, also known as Georg Engelmann, (2 February 1809 – 4 February 1884) was a German-American botanist. He was instrumental in describing the flora of the west of North America, then very poorly known to Europeans; he was particu ...

. He moved to

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

in 1846 where he practiced as a doctor for a short time before joining the

United States and Mexican Boundary Survey The United States and Mexican Boundary Survey (1848–1855) determined the border between the United States and Mexico as defined in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which had ended the Mexican–American War. The results of the survey were publis ...

(1848–1855) as

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

and botanist. He made extensive plant collections along the U.S.-Mexico border in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and later in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and other western states, many of which proved to be new species. Important plants he was the first to describe include the Torrey pine and

Engelmann spruce ''Picea engelmannii'', with the common names Engelmann spruce, white spruce, mountain spruce, and silver spruce, is a species of spruce native to western North America. It is mostly a high-altitude mountain tree but also appears in watered canyon ...

, which he named in honour of his mentors. Dozens of plants are named after him, including the Parry Pinyon, Parry's Lily, Parry's primrose, and Parry's Penstemon. In addition, the genera '' Neoparrya'' in 1929 (

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

family), and '' Parryella'' in 1868 (

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

family) were also named in his honor. Parry made the first barometric measurements of the heights of many of Colorado's mountains. Although he did not reach the summit, he estimated the height of

Longs Peak Longs Peak (Arapaho: ) is a high and prominent mountain in the northern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located in the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness, southwest by south ( bearing 209°) of th ...

, and he was the first to climb and measure

Grays Peak Grays Peak is the tenth-highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent fourteener is the highest summit of the Front Range and the highest point on the Continental Divide and the Conti ...

. Parry Peak (4,082 m / 13,391 feet) in Colorado is also named after him.W. H. Brewer, Explorations in the Rocky Mountains and the High Peaks of Colorado
Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York
Vol 3 (1872); pages 193-215. His archive is held at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

References

External links

Iowa State University: Parry archivesCharles Christopher Parry Digital CollectionCharles Christopher Parry - King of Colorado Botany
( University Press of Colorado)
Parry Peak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Charles Christopher English botanists English taxonomists 1823 births 1890 deaths Botanists active in North America Botanists with author abbreviations American mountain climbers English mountain climbers Union College (New York) alumni Columbia University alumni English emigrants to the United States People from Gloucestershire Sportspeople from Gloucestershire 19th-century American botanists 19th-century British botanists Scientists from New York (state)