Herman Theodor "Theo" Holm (February 3, 1854 - December 26, 1932) was a Danish-American systematic

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 ...

, agriculturalist and plant pathologist. His works dealt principally with plants from the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

and from the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, mainly

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

. He published over 150 papers reflecting his research which included his series ''Studies on the

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...

'' and ''Medicinal Plants of North America''.

Biography

Herman Theodor Holm was born in

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. He studied

botany 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 w ...

at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

under professor

Eugenius Warming Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a usurper in the Western Roman Empire (392–394) against Emperor Theodosius I. While Christian himself, Eugenius capitalized on the discontent in the West caused by Theodosius' religious policies targeting p ...

and graduated 1880. In 1882–1883, he participated in the expedition on board the Danish vessel ''Dijmphna'' (''Dijmphna-expeditionen 1882-83'') to the territory between

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

during the First

International Polar Year The International Polar Years (IPY) are collaborative, international efforts with intensive research focus on the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor in 1875, but died before it first occurred i ...

. The ship was icebound for a period in the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...

. He also explored the flora of West

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

as assistant to Eugenius Warming on the '' Fylla expedition'' in 1884. He emigrated to the U.S., landing in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on April 12, 1888. He soon was employed as assistant botanist by the U.S. National Museum. In 1893 when he received American citizenship. From 1893 to 1897, he was assistant pathologist with the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

(USDA). He obtained his Ph.D. in botany from the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

in 1902. He then moved to the countryside of Brookland, DC and later in Clinton,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and did assistant work as a botanist for 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 ...

and the USDA. Although a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

, in 1932 he joined the faculty of the

, but died soon after.

Honors

The small-reed species '' Calamagrostis holmii''

Lange Lange may refer to: People *Lange (surname), a German surname * Lange (musician) (born 1974), British DJ * Lange (Brazilian footballer) (born 1966), Brazilian footballer Companies * Lange (ski boots), a producer of ski boots used in alpine (dow ...

is named for him.

Selected scientific works

* Novaia-Zemlia’s

Vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

, særligt dens

Phanerogam 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 ...

er. Dijmphna-Togtets zoologiske-botaniske udbytte (1885) *''Contributions to the knowledge of the germination of some North American plant'' (1891) *''Notes on the flowers of Anthoxanthum odoratum L.'' (1892) *''Some new anatomical characters for certain Gramine'' (1903) *''Commelinaceœ. Morphological and anatomical studies of the vegetative organs of some North and Central American species'' (1906) *''Contributions to the morphology, synonymy, and geographical distribution of arctic plants'' (1922) *''The vegetation of the alpine region of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado'' (1923) * ''Hibernation and Rejuvenation, Exemplified by North American Herbs'' (American Midland Naturalist) (1925
Vol. 9 (9): 439-476Vol. 9 (10): 477-512
The title probably alludes to the title of the first work on

plant life-form Plant life-form schemes constitute a way of classifying plants alternatively to the ordinary species-genus-family scientific classification. In colloquial speech, plants may be classified as trees, shrubs, herbs (forbs and graminoids), etc. The s ...

, ''Om Skudbygning, Overvintring og Foryngelse'' ranslated title: On shoot architecture, hibernation and rejuvenation(1884) by

Eugen Warming Eugen is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954), last Habsburg Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order from 1894 to 1923 * Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke (1865–1947), Swedish painter, art collector, and pat ...

, Holm's former mentor in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, who had died the year before. At the end of the second part, Holm gives a list of all his papers on

life form Life form (also spelled life-form or lifeform) is an entity that is living, such as plants (flora) and animals (fauna). It is estimated that more than 99% of all species that ever existed on Earth, amounting to over five billion species, are ext ...

- related morphology and anatomy of American plants, ordered by

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Note

Sources

Woods, A.F. (1933) Herman Theodor Holm. Science 77 (1990): 183-184.Tucker, A.O., Poston, M.E. & Iltis, H.H. (1989) History of the LCU Herbarium, 1895-1986. Taxon 38 (2): 196-203.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holm, Theo 1854 births 1932 deaths American Lutherans 19th-century Danish botanists 20th-century American botanists Catholic University of America alumni Catholic University of America faculty University of Copenhagen alumni Botanists active in the Arctic Danish emigrants to the United States