Sarah Frances Price (1849 – 3 July 1903) was an American botanist and scientific illustrator. Price discovered many rare plants and is credited with classifying a large portion of
Kentucky's flora. Also an artist, she drew about fifteen hundred southern plants in pencil and watercolor.
Biography
Price was born in 1849 in
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
, the third child of Alexander Price and Maria Price.
Soon after Price was born, her family moved to Kentucky. With the onset of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, the family moved to Indiana and taught at church-run schools including the Episcopal Church school St. Agnes Hall. At the end of the Civil War, the Prices returned to
Bowling Green, Kentucky.
During her career, Price published over forty scientific papers.
A lifelong botanist, she had a private herbarium with about 2000 plants in it. Several of her drawings were showcased at the
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordi ...
, where she won several awards. Price drew over one-hundred fifty birds, and over one thousand plants. She also discovered several new species, including plants in the genera ''
Aster
Aster or ASTER may refer to:
Biology
* ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants
** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English
* Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...
'', ''
Apios
''Apios'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae
The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is P ...
'', ''
Cornus'', ''
Clematis'' and ''
Oxalis''. In 1897, she published her best known work, ''
Fern Collectors Handbook and Herbarium''. Five species are named after her: ''
Apios priceana
''Apios priceana'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Price's potato-bean, Price's groundnut, and traveler's delight. It is a climbing yellow-green vine in the growing from a stout, potato-like tu ...
'', ''
Cornus priceae'', ''
Viola priceana'', ''
Symphyotrichum priceae'' and ''
Oxalis priceana''.
Price died on 3 July 1903.
References
External links
Sarah Frances Price Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Sarah Frances
1849 births
1903 deaths
American women botanists
American botanists