Timothy Charles Plowman (November 17, 1944 – January 7, 1989) was an

ethnobotanist Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

best known for his intensive work over the course of 15 years on the genus ''

Erythroxylum ''Erythroxylum'' (''Erythroxylon'') is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Erythroxylaceae. Many of the approximately 200 species contain the substance cocaine,Bieri S, Brachet A, Veuthey J, Christen P. Cocaine distribution in wild ...

'' in general, and the cultivated

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, Al ...

species in particular. He collected more than 700 specimens from South America, housed in the collection of the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

.http://fm1.fieldmuseum.org/collections/search.cgi?dest=erthroy Plowman joined the

in 1978 where he became tenured in 1983 and was appointed Curator in 1988. He published more than 80 scientific papers (46 on ''

'') and served as editor for several scientific journals. He is one of the main subjects of ''One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest'' by Wade Davis. Both were students of

Richard Evans Schultes Richard Evans Schultes (''SHULL-tees'';Jonathan Kandell ''The New York Times'', April 13, 2001, Accessed April 26, 2020. January 12, 1915 – April 10, 2001) was an American biologist. He may be considered the father of modern ethnobotany. He is ...

, the father of modern ethnobotany. Plowman died of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, which he contracted from pre-trip inoculations. The

nightshade The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orna ...

species '' Brunfelsia plowmaniana'' is named after him, as also is the monotypic genus ''

Plowmania ''Plowmania'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. The only species is ''Plowmania nyctaginoides''. Fully hardy, fast-growing evergreen climber, stems up to long. It has 4-angled stems, pinnate leaves, up ...

''. The single species, '' Plowmania nyctaginoides'' (Standl.) Hunz. & Subils is closely related to ''Brunfelsia'', but differs from it most notably in the large and brilliant orange-red flowers (reminiscent of those of the better-known ornamental ''

Ipomoea coccinea ''Ipomoea coccinea'' is a flowering plant in the family Convolvulaceae known by several common names including red morning glory, redstar and (ambiguously) Mexican morning glory. It was first described by Linnaeus in 1753. Description Red mor ...

'') that have earned it well-deserved place in U.S. horticulture. Also in 2004, botanists Faden & C.R.Hardy published '' Plowmanianthus'', a genus of plants with 5 species and 2 subspecies in the family

Commelinaceae Commelinaceae is a family of flowering plants. In less formal contexts, the group is referred to as the dayflower family or spiderwort family. It is one of five families in the order Commelinales and by far the largest of these with about 731 kn ...

(the spiderwort and dayflower family). Also named in honour of Timothy Plowman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plowman, Timothy 1944 births 1989 deaths Ethnobiologists Ethnobotanists Botanists active in South America Psychedelic drug researchers Cornell University alumni Harvard University alumni 20th-century American botanists