Jesse More Greenman (December 27, 1867 – January 20, 1951) 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 ...

. He specialized in tropical flora, with emphasis on plants from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. He was an authority on the genus ''

Senecio ''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels. Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Description Morp ...

'' and noted for his work at the

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million spe ...

Life and career

Greenman was born in

North East, Pennsylvania North East is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States, northeast of Erie. Located in the county's northeastern corner, the name comes from the geographical location. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census, down from 4,294 ...

. Greenman earned his baccalaureate from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

1893, then became an instructor for a year. In 1894 he went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

studying and working in the

Gray Herbarium The Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Botanical Museum is one of three which comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural ...

until 1899 when he earned his master's degree. There he began a long association with

Benjamin Lincoln Robinson Benjamin Lincoln Robinson (November 8, 1864 – July 27, 1935) was an American botanist. Biography Robinson was born on November 8, 1864, in Bloomington, Illinois. In 1887, he received an A.B. from Harvard. He married Margaret Louise Casson on ...

. In 1901 he earned his Ph.D. from 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 o ...

. He then taught at Harvard from 1902–1905. In 1902 he married Anne Turner, who was born in 1875 and died in 1936. Subsequently, he worked as an assistant to the curator of the Department of Botany of the Natural History Museum in Chicago and as an Assistant Professor of Botany at the University of Chicago. He began working at the Missouri Botanical Garden as curator in 1913, remaining there until his retirement in 1943. While he was curator, the collection of flora there grew from 600,000 to about 1,500,000. He was also a professor of botany at

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. He suffered a severe stroke in 1945. Greenman and his wife had two sons, Jesse Greenman, Jr. and Milton T. Greenman. Milton accompanied him on his trip to Central America in 1922.

Honors

Beginning in 1968, the "Jesse M. Greenman Award" is awarded by the "Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium" in his honor for an academic paper "...judged best in vascular plant or bryophyte systematics based on a doctoral dissertation that was published during the previous year". "The genera ''Greenmania'' P. Hieronymus and ''

Greenmaniella ''Greenmaniella'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family. The genus is named in honor of US botanist Jesse More Greenman (1867-1951), formerly of the Missouri Botanical Garden. ;Species There is only one known species, ''Greenmani ...

'' W.M. Sharp were both named after him. ''Senecio multivenius'' Benth., ''S. cooperi'' Greenm., and ''S. megaphyllus'' Greenm. were reclassified in the new genus ''

Jessea ''Jessea'' is a genus of Central American plants in the tribe Senecioneae within the sunflower family, closely related to ''Senecio''.Nordenstam, Rune Bertil. 1996. Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeograph ...

'' H. Robinson and ''J. Cuatrecases'' in Greenman's honor."

Publications

* 1938. ''Studies of South American Senecios''. 28 pp. * 1929. ''A New Variety of

aureus L.'' 2 pp. * 1929. ''New Agaves from Southwestern United States'' * 1918. ''A New Selaginella from Mexico'' * 1917. ''Two exotic Compositae in North America''. 4 pp. * 1916. ''A New Senecio from Jamaica''. 2 pp. * 1915. ''The Yareta Or Vegetable Sheep of Peru'' * 1914
''Descriptions of North American Senecioneae''
* 1912. ''I. New species of Cuban Senecioneae. II. Diagnoses of new species and notes on other spermatophytes, chiefly from Mexico and Central America''. Fieldiana. Botany series v. 2, Nº
Art.
* 1911. ''Some Canadian Senecios''. 5 pp. * 1908. ''The Generic Name Goldmania'' * 1908. ''Notes on the Genus Senecio''. 69 pp. * 1907
''New Or Noteworthy Spermatophytes From Mexico, Central America, And The West Indies''
Kessinger Publishing, LLC, . * 1906
''Studies in the Genus Citharexylum''
190 pp. Field Columbian Museum Publication 117, Bot.series, Vol. 2 Nº 4. * 1906. ''Two New Species from Northwestern America'' * 1905. ''A New Krynitzkia'' * 1905. ''Descriptions of Spermatophytes from the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America''. Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard Univ 31. Editor Acad. 36 pp. * 1904. ''Notes on Southwestern and Mexican Plants'' * 1904. ''Diagnoses and Synonymy of Mexican and Central American Spermatophytes''. Proc. of the Am. Academy of Arts and Sci. 40. Editor Acad. 25 pp. * 1903. ''New and otherwise noteworthy Angiosperms from Mexico and Central America''. Contrib. from the Gray Herbarium, Harvard Univ. 25. Editor Gray Herb. of Harvard Univ. 120 pp. * 1901. ''The Genus Senecio in New England''. 5 pp. * 1900. ''New Species and Varieties of Mexican Plants''. 315 pp. * 1899
''Northwestern Plants, Chiefly from Oregon''
6 pp.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenman, Jesse More American taxonomists Missouri Botanical Garden people 1867 births 1951 deaths Botanists active in North America Harvard University faculty University of Chicago faculty Harvard University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni People from North East, Pennsylvania Scientists from Pennsylvania 19th-century American botanists 20th-century American botanists