Lowell David Flyr (1937-1971) 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 ...

. Born in Stratford,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, Flyr conducted his graduate thesis work at the

University of Texas in Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. He is known for his work on the genus ''

Brickellia ''Brickellia'' is a North American genus of about 100 to 110 species of plants in the family Asteraceae, known commonly as brickellbushes. They are found in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America. Many species are native to the A ...

''. At the age of 33, Flyr committed suicide in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

while undergoing treatment for depression. The species '' Brickellia cordifolia'' is called "Flyr's Nemesis" or "Flyr's brickellbush" in his honor.

References

1937 births People from Texas University of Texas at Austin people 20th-century American botanists 1971 deaths 1971 suicides Suicides in Texas {{US-botanist-stub