James Clair Parks, Ph.D. (1942–2002) was an 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

plant taxonomist Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, identifies, describes, classifies, and names plants. It is one of the main branches of taxonomy (the science that finds, describes, classifies, and names living things). Plant taxonomy is closely allied ...

who was a professor and

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 ...

curator at Millersville University in Millersville, Pennsylvania,

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

from 1967 until his death in 2002. In 2004, the herbarium at Millersville University was dedicated in his honor as the James C. Parks Herbarium.

Taxonomic specialties

Parks's taxonomic specialty was on American Compositae ( Asteraceae) and American ferns. Dr. Parks conducted his doctoral dissertation on a taxonomic revision of the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n and

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

genus '' Melanthera'' Rohr (Compositae; Parks 1968).

Some taxonomic names for which Parks is an author

#''Melanthera aspera'' var. ''glabriuscula'' (Kuntze) J.C.Parks

Publications

Parks was the author of 14 journal articles and book chapters. These are listed below, from most to least recent. #Dyer AF, JC Parks, S Lindsay (2000) Historical review of the uncertain taxonomic status of ''

Cystopteris dickieana ''Cystopteris dickieana'', commonly known as Dickie's bladder-fern, is a fern with a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. There is debate amongst botanists as to whether it is a species in its own right or a variant of '' C. fragilis'' ...

'' R.Sim (Dickie's bladder fern). '' Edinburgh Journal of Botany'' 57 (1): 71–81. #Parks JC, AF Dyer, S Lindsay (2000) Allozyme, spore and frond variation in some Scottish populations of the ferns ''Cystopteris dickieana'' and ''

Cystopteris fragilis ''Cystopteris fragilis'' is a species of fern known by the common names brittle bladder-fern and common fragile fern. It can be found worldwide, generally in shady, moist areas. The leaves are up to 30 or 40 centimeters long and are borne on fles ...

''. ''Edinburgh Journal of Botany'' 57 (1): 83–105. #Parks JC (2000). Lycopodiaceae. pp 64–70 in Rhoads AF, TA Block (eds.) ''The plants of Pennsylvania: an illustrated manual''. University of Pennsylvania Press. #Parks JC, JD Montgomery (2000). Ferns. pp 71–106 in Rhoads AF, TA Block (eds.) ''The plants of Pennsylvania: an illustrated manual''. University of Pennsylvania Press. #Parks JC, KA Mosser (1998) A morphological and allozymal study of a ''Cystoperis tennesseensis'' ( Dryopteridaceae) population: first report of the species in Lancaster County, PA. ''Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences'' 71 (2): 78–83. #Parks JC, CR Werth (1993) A study of spatial features of clones in a population of bracken fern, '' Pteridium aquilinum'' ( Dennstaedtiaceae). ''American Journal of Botany'' 80 (5): 537–544. #Parks JC (1989) Distribution of gametophytic populations of ''

Vittaria ''Vittaria'', the shoestring ferns, is a genus of ferns in the Vittarioideae subfamily of the family Pteridaceae. It had previously been placed in the family Vittariaceae,Karl U. Kramer. 1990. "Vittariaceae". pages 272-277. In: Klaus Kubitzki ( ...

'' and ''

Trichomanes ''Trichomanes'' is a genus of ferns in the family Hymenophyllaceae, termed bristle ferns. The circumscription of the genus is disputed. All ferns in the genus are filmy ferns, with leaf tissue typically 2 cells thick. This thinness generally nec ...

'' in Pennsylvania. ''Rhodora'' 91: 201–206. #Parks JC, AF Rhoads (1985) ''

Erigenia bulbosa ''Erigenia bulbosa'', also known as harbinger of spring or pepper and salt, is a flowering perennial plant in the family Apiaceae. ''E. bulbosa'' is the only species in the genus ''Erigenia'' and tribe Erigenieae. This plant is known as harbi ...

'' in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. ''Bartonia'' 51. #Stober SS, JC Parks (1985) Chromosomal studies of ''Physalis virginiana'' var. ''subglabrata'' and ''Physalis heterophylla''. ''Bartonia'' 51: 65–68. #Parks JC, DR Farrar (1984) A first report of the fern genus ''Vittaria'' in New York. ''Rhodora'' 86 (848): 421–423. #Parks JC (1984) New Pennsylvania locality of ''Cryptogramma stelleri''. ''Bartonia'' 50: 63. #Farrar DR, JC Parks, BW McAlpin (1983) The fern genera ''Vittaria'' and ''Trichomanes'' in the Northeastern United States. ''Rhodora'' 85 (841): 83–92. #Parks JC (1973) A revision of North American and Caribbean ''Melanthera'' (Compositae). ''Rhodora'' 75: 169–210. #Parks JC (1969) Simple technique for demonstrating chromosomal coils using '' Tradescantia'' pollen mother cells. ''Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science'' 43: 61–63.

Literature cited

Parks JC (1968) A revision of the genus ''Melanthera'' Rohr (Compositae): in North America and the Caribbean. Ph.D. Dissertation, Vanderbilt University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parks, James C 1942 births 2002 deaths American botanists American taxonomists