Roland McMillan Harper (1878 – 1966) 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 ...

, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and writer. He wrote for the ''Savannah Morning News'' and covered the settlement of Georgia's wiregrass region in the late 19th century. He is known for his work in the Southeastern United States.

Life and legacy

He was born in

Farmington, Maine Farmington is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,592. Farmington is home to the University of Maine at Farmington, Nordica Memorial Auditorium, the Nordica Homestea ...

. When he was 10, his family moved to Dalton, Georgia and five years later to

Americus, Georgia Americus is the county seat of Sumter County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,230. It is the principal city of the Americus Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Schley an ...

. He and his brother Frances retraced

William Bartram William Bartram (April 20, 1739 – July 22, 1823) was an American botanist, ornithologist, natural historian and explorer. Bartram was the author of an acclaimed book, now known by the shortened title ''Bartram's Travels'', which chronicled ...

's journey through Alabama and the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

. Harper discovered and described ''

Scirpus georgianus ''Scirpus georgianus'', or Georgia bulrush, is a 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 word ...

'' before graduating high school and discovered another 29 flowering plants during his career. More than a dozen are named for him. He collected newspaper clippings, and train timetables. He was a

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

. Harper left a collection of photographs and documents. He was an acquaintance of

Nathaniel 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. Early life Britton was born in New Dorp in Staten Island, New York to Jasper ...

, Hugo de Vries, and

Charles Davenport Charles Benedict Davenport (June 1, 1866 – February 18, 1944) was a biologist and eugenics, eugenicist influential in the Eugenics in the United States, American eugenics movement. Early life and education Davenport was born in Stamford, Co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Roland McMillan 1878 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American botanists People from Farmington, Maine American geographers 19th-century American botanists Scientists from Maine People from Dalton, Georgia Scientists from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Americus, Georgia American white supremacists