Willard N. Clute (1869–1950) was an American author, naturalist and botanist. He was born in

Steuben County, New York Steuben County (stu-BEN) is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 93,584. Its county seat is Bath. Its name is in honor of Baron von Steuben, a Prussian general who fought on the American ...

, the son of George N. and Ruth Wright Clute. He married Ida Martin (born 1869), who illustrated some of his works. Clute founded the

American Fern Society The American Fern Society was founded in 1893. Today, it has more than 1,000 members around the world, with various local chapters. Among its deceased members, perhaps the most famous is Oliver Sacks, who became a member in 1993. Willard N. Clut ...

. He was editor of '' The Fern Bulletin'', the original publication of the American Fern Society (originally called ''The Linnaean Fern Bulletin''), and of ''The American Botanist''. He was associated with

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

for many years. Starting in 1928, he was professor of botany and curator of the botanical gardens. He collected

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

lycopod Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants known as lycopods, lycophytes or other terms including the component lyco-. Members of the class are also called clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts. They have dichotomously branching s ...

s, and

nonvascular plants Non-vascular plants are plants without a vascular system consisting of xylem and phloem. Instead, they may possess simpler tissues that have specialized functions for the internal transport of water. Non-vascular plants include two distantly rel ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. His specimens are housed in the Friesner Herbarium at

. He was married to the botanical illustrator and artist Ida Martin Clute.

Plants Named by Clute

*''Dryopteris gilberti'' Clute (

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

) *''

Equisetum ''Equisetum'' (; horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of ferns, which reproduce by spores rather than seeds. ''Equisetum'' is a "living fossil", the only living genus of the entire subclass ...

'' × ''ferrissii'' Clute (

) *''Phlox laphamii'' (Alph.Wood) Clute *''Polypodium prolongilobum'' Clute (

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

) *''Polystichum triangulum'' (Sw.) Clute non (L.) Fée *''Pteridium aquilina'' var. ''pseudocaudata'' Clute (

) *''Osmunda regalis f. orbiculata Clute "growing on the farm of B. P. Ruggles" where is this?

Eponyms

* '' Penstemon clutei''

Books by Clute

*Clute, Willard Nelson
''Agronomy: A Course in Practical Gardening for High Schools'
Ginn and Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 1913. 296 pp. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''Botanical Essays''. W. N. Clute & Co., Indianapolis, Indiana. 1929. 112 pp, 3 plates. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''The Common Names of Plants and Their Meanings''. 176 pp. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''A Dictionary of American Plant Names''. W. N. Clute & Co., Joliet, Illinois. 1923. 215 pp. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''Experimental General Science''. Blakiston. 1917. 303 pp. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''The Fern Allies of North America North of Mexico''. Illustrated by Ida Martin Clute. First edition: Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York, New York. 1905. xiv/278 pp, 150+ ill, 21 cm, hardcover. LC 5-32523. Web: https://archive.org/details/fernalliesofnort00clutuoft; also https://archive.org/details/fernalliesofnort00clutrich; Second edition: W. N. Clute & Co., Butler University, Joliet, Illinois. 1928. vi/2/xi-xiv/3-278 pp. (xiv/280 pp), 150+ ill, 20 cm. LC28-16299. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''The Fern Collector's Guide (Where to Find and How to Name the Ferns)''. Illustrated by William W. Stilson. First printing: Frederick A. Stokes Company, Publishers, New York, New York. 1901. 61 pp. Second printing: Frederick A. Stokes Company, Publishers, New York, New York. 1902. 61 pp, +3pp ads, 195mm, HB. LC 2-21874. Third printing: Shorey Book Store, Seattle, Washington. 1972. 61pp, 6pp ads, softcover. . *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''The Ferns and Fern Allies of the Upper Susquehanna Valley''. Reprinted from ''The Flora of the Upper Susquehanna''. W. N. Clute & Co., Binghamton, New York. 1898. 15pp, 137x208mm. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''Our Ferns in Their Haunts; A Guide to All the Native Species''. First edition: Illustrated by William Walworth Stilson. Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, New York. 1901. (4)/xii/332/(8) pp, 8 color plates + b/w ill, 210mm, hardcover. LC 1-12881. Web: https://archive.org/details/ourfernsintheirh00clutuoft; also https://books.google.com/books?id=OowNAAAAYAAJ. Second edition: Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York, New York. 1929. Third edition: ''Our Ferns; Their Haunts, Habits and Folklore''. Illustrated by William Walworth Stilson and Ida Martin Clute. Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York, New York. 1929. xx/388 pp, 8 color plates, 210 ill, 205mm. LC 38-6667. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''The Flora of the Upper Susquehanna and Its Tributaries''. W. N. Clute & Co., Binghamton, New York. 1901. 16 pp. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''Laboratory Botany for the High School''. Ginn and Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 1909. xiv,177 pp. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''The Pteridophyta of North America, North of Mexico''. F. White, Binghamton, New York, USA. 1895. 23pp. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''A Second Book of Plant Names and Their Meanings''. Willard N. Clute, Indianapolis, Indiana. 1939. 164 pp, 8.5x6, hardcover. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''Swamp and Dune: A Study in Plant Distribution''. W. N. Clute & Co., Indianapolis, Indiana. 1931. 92 pp, 6 plates. *Clute, Willard Nelson. ''The Useful Plants of the World''. W. N. Clute & Co., Joliet, Illinois. 1928. v,86 pp. *Clute, Willard Nelson. "Practical High School Texts, Botany" also known as "Practical Botany for High Schools" Pub. Mentzer, Bush & Company, Chicago, New York, 1924, 214 pp. (Copy in private collection is inscribed to botanist Ralph O. Baird, " To Ralph O. Baird as a slight token of regard for his help on a memorable occasion this book is inscribed by the author.")

External references

*Dolan, Rebecca W. "The Clute holotypes and the herbarium of Willard Nelson Clute in the Friesner Herbarium of Butler University (BUT)." ''American Fern Journal'' 84(2): 71-72. 1994. *Morton, Conrad V. "Willard Nelson Clute, 1869-1950." ''American Fern Journal'' 41(1):1-4. 1951. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clute, Willard Nelson Pteridologists American botanists 1950 deaths 1869 births People from Painted Post, New York Scientists from New York (state)