Roxana Judkins Stinchfield Ferris (April 13, 1895 – June 30, 1978) was an American botanist. She was born in

Sycamore, California Sycamore (formerly, Loch-loch) is an unincorporated community in Colusa County, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of ...

, to Moses and Annie Stinchfield. She was named after her grandmother, Roxany Judkins. In 1916, Stinchfield Ferris earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Botany at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

with advisor and mentor,

LeRoy Abrams LeRoy Abrams (1874–1956) was an American botanist and author. He was a Professor of Botany at Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, Californi ...

and afterwards she joined the staff of the

Dudley Herbarium The Dudley Herbarium was the herbarium or plant specimen collection of the Stanford University Natural History Museum and the former Division of Systematic Biology of the Department of Biology, at Stanford University in California.The Dudley Herba ...

at Stanford, collecting thousands of botanical specimens for the research collection there. She specialized in collecting

Phanerogams A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...

, and the botany of California and Mexico. Stinchfield Ferris retired from the Dudley Herbarium in 1963, and died in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...

in 1978.

Works

* ''The trees and shrubs of western Oregon'' * ''An Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States'' (as co-editor) * ''Death Valley Wildflowers'' * ''Flowers of Point Reyes National Seashore'' *''Native Shrubs of the San Francisco Bay Region'' *''New Combinations in Aster''

Species named in honor

Several species have been named in honor of Ferris including *''

Astragalus tener ''Astragalus tener'' is a species of milkvetch known by the common name alkali milkvetch. It is endemic to California, where it grows in both coastal and inland areas such as the Central Valley, especially in moist places. Description This is ...

'' var. ''ferrisiae'' - Ferris's milk-vetch *''

Eremogone ferrisiae ''Eremogone'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the A ...

'' - Ferris's sandwort *''

Lasthenia ferrisiae ''Lasthenia ferrisiae'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Ferris' goldfields. It is endemic to the California Central Valley, where it grows in vernal pools and alkali flats. Description ''Lasthe ...

'' - Ferris's goldfields

References

External links

Brief biography on JSTOR

''The trees and shrubs of western Oregon'' at WorldCat
* 1895 births 1978 deaths People from Colusa County, California 20th-century American botanists Scientists from California American women botanists 20th-century American women scientists {{US-botanist-stub