Louis Cutter Wheeler (1910–1980) was an American botanist and professor of botany with an international reputation for his research on

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, e ...

Biography

Louis Cutter Wheeler's father was a citrus farmer in California, where the summer appearance of the "intricate

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

" of ''

Euphorbia albomarginata ''Euphorbia albomarginata'' (formerly ''Chamaesyce albomarginata''), whitemargin sandmat or rattlesnake weed, is a small low-growing perennial, in the spurge family (Euphorbia, Euphorbiaceae) native to desert, chaparral, and grassland habitats o ...

'' (rattlesnake weed) aroused Louis's interest in botany. After attending La Verne Junior College, he studied botany from 1931 to 1933 at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

under

Carl Epling Carl Clawson Epling (15 April 1894 – 17 November 1968) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for being the major authority on the Lamiaceae (mint family) of the Americas from the 1920s to the 1960s. In his later years he als ...

and from 1933 to 1934 at

Claremont University College The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate ( Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Co ...

under

Philip A. Munz Philip Alexander Munz (1892–1974) was an American botanist, plant taxonomist and educator who worked at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and was a professor of botany at Pomona College, serving as dean there for three years. In 1935 Munz publ ...

. After graduating in 1934 with a master's degree, Wheeler worked for the U.S. Forest Service in the

Siskiyou Mountains The Siskiyou Mountains are a coastal subrange of the Klamath Mountains, and located in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States. They extend in an arc for approximately from east of Crescent City, California, northea ...

and in the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County in southern Calif ...

within the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Tr ...

. From 1936 to 1939 he was a graduate student at

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 ...

. He was a co-collector with Bernice Giduz Schubert. From 1939 to 1945 Wheeler was a botany instructor and research assistant at several different universities. At the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, he became an assistant professor in 1945 and was eventually promoted to associate professor and then full professor, retiring as professor emeritus in 1975. The Flora of Ceylon Project was supported by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, the Ceylon Department of Agriculture, and the

University of Ceylon, Peradeniya The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

. Funded by the Project, Wheeler collected in the

Puttalam District Puttalam is a district situated near to the west coast of Sri Lanka. It has an area of . Along with the Kurunegala District, it formulates the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which borders the Kala Oya and ...

(1969),

Anuradhapura District Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''anūrādhapūra distrikkaya''; ta, அனுராதபுரம் மாவட்டம் ''Aṉurātapuram māvaṭṭam'') is a district in North Cent ...

(1971), and

Kandy District Kandy District ( si, මහනුවර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, ta, கண்டி மாவட்டம்) is a district of the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Its area is 1906.3 km². Administrative divisions Ethnic ...

(1977).

Family

Louis Cutter Wheeler an older brother, Willis Hayes (1906–1996), and 4 sisters, Hazel Ruth (1908–2013), Florence Elizabeth (1914–1920), Muriel Flora (1917–2006), and Janet Lucile (1919–2016). Their father was born in Kansas and arrived in California around 1903 from Colorado. Their mother was born in Massachusetts and belonged to New England's Cutter family, whose history was written by

William Richard Cutter William Richard Cutter (August 17, 1847 – June 6, 1918) was an American historian, genealogist, and writer. Life Born in Woburn, Massachusetts on August 17, 1847, he was the son of Dr. Benjamin Cutter and Mary Whittemore Cutter. He attended ...

. Louis Cutter Wheeler married Leota May Brice (1909–1995) in 1935. They had two daughters. Willis Hayes Wheeler became a plant pathologist and botanist, working for the

USDA 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 ...

Selected publications

Articles

* 1938. ''Lichens of Point Lobos Reserve''. The Bryologist Vol. 41, No. 5 (Oct., 1938), pp. 107–113 * 1941 ''Euphorbia subgenus Chamaesyce in Canada and the United States exclusive of southern Florida''. Rhodora 43:97-154, 168–205, 223-286 * 1941 ''Euphoribaceae of the Washington-Baltimore area ''. 10 pp.

Books

* 1973. ''Cobb Estate Nature Trail''. 33 pp. ed. Altadena CA: The Altadenan Publ. Co.

Eponyms

* (

) ''

Chamaesyce ''Chamaesyce'' is a genus of plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that ''Chamaesyce'' is deeply nested within the broader ''Euphorbia''. Specifically, ''Chamaesyce'' is very closely related to plants like '' ...

geyeri'' var. ''wheeleriana'' ( Warnock & M.C.Johnst.) MayfieldPhytologia 75(2): 179 1993 (IK) * (

) ''

Argythamnia ''Argythamnia'' is a genus of plants of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1756.Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, e ...

) ''

Phyllanthus ''Phyllanthus'' is the largest genus in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number of species in this genus vary widely, from 750David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book.'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University P ...

wheeleri'' G.L.Webster * (

Dothioraceae The Dothioraceae are a family of fungi in the order Dothideales. Species in this family have a widespread distribution, and are biotrophic or necrotrophic, usually associated with woody plants. Genera *'' Aureobasidium'' *'' Botryochora'' (placem ...

) '' Metasphaeria wheeleri'' Linder

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Louis Cutter 1910 births 1980 deaths University of California, Los Angeles alumni Claremont Graduate University alumni Harvard University alumni University of Southern California alumni Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science People from La Verne, California 20th-century American botanists