Flora Wambaugh Patterson (1847–1928) was an American mycologist, and the first female plant pathologist hired by the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
.Amy Y. Rossman "Flora W. Patterson: The First Woman Mycologist at the USDA" (Reviewed feature article), ASP.net (last visited August 22, 2012). She ran the US National Fungus Collections for almost thirty years, radically growing the collection and shaping its direction, and supervised or discovered numerous significant fungal diseases.
Life
Flora Wambaugh was born in Columbus, Ohio, to Sarah Sells (Wambaugh) and Methodist minister A. B. Wambaugh."Flora Wambaugh Patterson", ''The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science'', by Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie and Joy Dorothy Harvey. She studied fungi as a hobby in her childhood.
She attended
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its ...
in Ohio, earning her bachelor's degree in 1865.
She then earned two Master's degrees from Cincinnati Wesleyan College. Wambaugh married Captain Edwin Patterson in 1869, assuming his name, and they had two children; she worked to support the family financially.
After his death Patterson continued her studies at the
State University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...
, and in 1892 or 1893 made plans to transfer to
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 ...
. When Yale rejected her because she was a woman, she moved to
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
, and began studies at Radcliffe College, where she worked at the Gray Herbarium at Harvard.
In 1895, Patterson joined the USDA as a
pathologist
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in t ...
Franklin Sumner Earle
Franklin Sumner Earle (September 4, 1856 – January 31, 1929) was an American mycologist who specialized in the diseases and cultivation of sugar cane. He was the first mycologist to work at the New York Botanical Garden, and was the author of '' ...
.
During her almost thirty-year tenure at the USDA, Patterson increased the size of the
U.S. National Fungus Collections The National Fungus Collections of the United States is the "world's largest herbarium of dried fungus specimens". She identified numerous new species of fungus, including those causing pineapple rot ('' Thielaviopsis paradoxa''), peach leaf curl (''
Taphrina
''Taphrina'' is a fungal genus within the Ascomycota that causes leaf and catkin curl diseases and witch's brooms of certain flowering plants. One of the more commonly observed species causes peach leaf curl. ''Taphrina'' typically grow as yea ...
''), and "witches' broom" on
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
('' Loculistroma bambusae''), which was an entirely new genus.
Among other responsibilities, Patterson was in charge of identifying new fungal pathogens, and took a leading role in identifying the chestnut blight that wiped out eastern North America's chestnut forests, and the potato wart disease ''
Synchytrium endobioticum
''Synchytrium endobioticum'' is a chytrid fungus that causes the potato wart disease, or black scab. It also infects some other plants of the genus ''Solanum'', though potato is the only cultivated host.
Systematics
Traditionally, ''Synchytr ...
cherry tree
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The na ...
s, ultimately leading to the destruction of the first shipment of trees which was infected with multiple types of insects and diseases.
All of these incidents led to the passage of the
Plant Quarantine Act of 1912
The Plant Quarantine Act, originally enacted in 1912 (7 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), gave the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) authority to regulate the importation and interstate movement of nursery stock and other plants that may carry ...
which aimed to prevent introduction of invasive harmful diseases.
Patterson continued her work with the USDA until retiring at the age of 75, and then lived with one of her sons in New York City until her death at the age of 80.
Selected bibliography of Patterson's writings
* Patterson, F. W. 1894. Species of Taphrina parasitic on Populus. Proc. Amer. Assoc. Advan. Sci. 43:293-294.
* Patterson, F. W. 1895. A study of North American parasitic Exoascaceae. Iowa Univ. Bull. Lab. Nat. Hist. 3:89-135.
* Patterson, F. W., Charles, V. K., and Veihmeyer, F. J. 1910. Some fungous diseases of economic importance. I.-Miscellaneous Diseases. II. Pineapple rot caused by Thielaviopsis paradoxa. USDA, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bull. No. 171.
* Patterson, F. W., and Charles, V. K. 1915. Mushrooms and other common fungi. USDA Bulletin No. 175.
* Patterson, F. W., and Charles, V. K. 1917. Some common edible and poisonous mushrooms. USDA Farmer’s Bulletin No. 796