Wilbur Howard Duncan (October 15, 1910 – March 25, 2005) was a

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 ...

professor at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

for 40 years where he oversaw an expansion in the school's

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

collection and described three new plant species. Duncan also authored several books on plant species of the

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and Southeastern United States.

Biography

Duncan was born in Buffalo, New York, on October 15, 1910. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees, in 1932 and 1933, from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, then his PhD in

from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

in 1938. He then began a forty-year period in the faculty at the

. As Curator of the UGA Herbarium, he increased the collection size from 16,000 to 135,000 specimens. He personally collected over thirty thousand specimens, which he shared with

herbaria A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

across the country. During World War II, Duncan served in the

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant S ...

, in which he earned the rank of Major. His duties during this period included directing

mosquito control Mosquito control manages the population of mosquitoes to reduce their damage to human health, economies, and enjoyment. Mosquito control is a vital public-health practice throughout the world and especially in the tropics because mosquitoes spr ...

for

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

and serving as state

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

for

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Duncan was married for 64 years (from 1941 until his death) to botanist Marion Bennett Duncan, with whom he collaborated on several books, including ''Wildflowers of the Eastern United States''.

Species described

Duncan is the

botanical authority In botanical nomenclature, author citation is the way of citing the person or group of people who validly published a botanical name, i.e. who first published the name while fulfilling the formal requirements as specified by the '' International Co ...

who first described three plant species: ''

Quercus oglethorpensis ''Quercus oglethorpensis'' (also called Oglethorpe oak) is a species of plant in the beech family. It is endemic to the United States. It is named for Oglethorpe County, Georgia, where it was first discovered. The county, in turn, is named for J ...

'', ''

Trillium persistens ''Trillium persistens'', the persistent trillium, is a North American species of flowering plants in the genus ''Trillium'' of family Melanthiaceae (formerly Trilliaceae). The plant is also called the persistent wakerobin. Persistent trillium ...

'', and '' Baptisia arachnifera''. All of these species are

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

. File:Persistent Trillium Photo.jpg, ''

'' File:Baptisia arachnifera 2.jpg, '' Baptisia arachnifera''

Associations and honors

Duncan was a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

Partial bibliography

*Duncan, W. H. 1940. A new species of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

from Georgia. ''Amer. Midland Naturalist'' 24: 755–756. * *Duncan, W. H. 1944. A new species of ''

Baptisia ''Baptisia'' (wild indigo, false indigo) is a genus in the legume family, Fabaceae. They are flowering herbaceous perennial plants with pea-like flowers, followed by pods, which are sometimes inflated. They are native to woodland and grassland in ...

''. ''

Rhodora ''Rhododendron canadense'', the rhodora or Canada rosebay, is a deciduous flowering shrub that is native to northeastern North America. Classification Today's botanists consider the rhodora to be a distant relative of the other North American ...

'' 46: 29–31. *Duncan, W. H. 1950. ''

'' – range extensions and phylogenetic relationships. ''Lloydia'' 13: 243–248. *Duncan, W. H., J. F. Garst, and G. A. Neece. 1971. ''

'' (

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fair ...

), a new pedicellate-flowered species form northeastern Georgia and adjacent North Carolina. Rhodora 73: 244–248. * * *Duncan, W. H. 1977. A new species of ''

Galactia ''Galactia'' is a genus of plants in the legume family (Fabaceae). It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. They do not have an unambiguous common name, being commonly called milk peas, beach peas or wild peas. Selected species * ''Galactia ano ...

'' (

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

) in the southeastern United States. ''

Phytologia Phytologia is an open-access journal to expedite plant systematics, Phytogeography, phytogeographical and Ecology, ecological publication, focused on North America. Its mode of subscription is by sending e-mail to the editor. It has been available ...

'' 37: 59–61. *Duncan, Wilbur H. & John T. Kartesz, ''Vascular Flora of Georgia: An Annotated Checklist'', 1981, UGA Press * * *Duncan, Wilbur H. & Marion B. Duncan, ''The Smithsonian Guide to Seaside Plants of the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts'', 140 pp, Smithsonian, 1987, *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Wilbur Howard 1910 births 2005 deaths American botanical writers American male non-fiction writers American botanists American entomologists Duke University alumni Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Indiana University alumni People from Athens, Georgia Scientists from Buffalo, New York University of Georgia faculty Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) Writers from Buffalo, New York United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers 20th-century American zoologists 20th-century American male writers

Biography

Species described

Associations and honors

Partial bibliography

See also

Notes