Joseph Nelson Rose (January 11, 1862 – May 4, 1928) 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 was born in

Union County, Indiana Union County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 7,087. The county seat is Liberty. Since 2018, Union County has been included in the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan St ...

. His father died serving during the Civil War when Joseph Rose was a young boy. He later graduated from high school in

Liberty, Indiana Liberty is a town in Center Township, Union County, Indiana, Center Township, Union County, Indiana, Union County, Indiana, United States of America. The population was 2,000 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of ...

. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

in 1889. having received his B.A. in Biology and M.A. Paleobotany earlier at the same institute. He married Lou Beatrice Sims in 1888 and produced with her three sons and three daughters. Rose worked for the

U.S. 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 ...

and became an assistant

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

at the Smithsonian in 1896. While Rose was employed by the national museum, he was an authority on several plants families, including

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 ...

(Parsley Family) and

Cactaceae A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

(Cactus Family). He made several field trips to Mexico, and presented specimens to the Smithsonian and the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

. With

Nathaniel Lord Britton Nathaniel Lord Britton (January 15, 1859 – June 25, 1934) was an American botanist and taxonomist who co-founded the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, New York (state), New York. Early life Britton was born in New Dorp, Staten Island, New ...

, Rose published many articles on the

Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering plants characterized by succulent leaves and a unique form of photosynthesis, known as Crass ...

. He took a leave of absence from the Smithsonian to do further fieldwork in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and publish with Britton, the four-volume work, ''

The Cactaceae ''The Cactaceae'' is a monograph on plants of the cactus family written by the American botanists Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose and published in multiple volumes between 1919 and 1923. It was landmark study that extensively reorg ...

'' (1919–1923), illustrated by

Mary Emily Eaton Mary Emily Eaton (27 November 1873 – 4 August 1961) was an English botanical artist best known for illustrating Britton & Rose's ''The Cactaceae'', published between 1919 and 1923. Life Mary Emily Eaton was born on 27 November 1873 in Cole ...

(1873–1961). Rose returned to work afterwards at the Smithsonian, making further contributions to

Botany 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 w ...

Honors

'' Astroblepus rosei'' is a species of

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

of the family

Astroblepidae ''Astroblepus'' is a genus of fish in the family Astroblepidae found in South America and Panama. This genus is the only member of its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area. ''Astroblepus pholeter'' ...

that was named after Rose. It can be found on

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. In 1890, botanist S.Watson published '' Rhodosciadium'', a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s from Mexico and Guatemala, belonging to the family

and named in Rose's honor.

Notes

External links

Biographical material and related botany
* Joseph Nelson Rose letters to Walter Dean

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Joseph Nelson 1862 births 1928 deaths Wabash College alumni People from Union County, Indiana 19th-century American botanists 20th-century American botanists Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery