Joseph Whipple Congdon (April 13, 1834 – April 5, 1910) was a lawyer by trade who contributed significantly to early botanical exploration in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, particularly in the

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

region, where he resided in Mariposa from 1882 until 1905. Congdon was born in Pomfret, Connecticut and graduated Brown University with the class of 1855. He was admitted to the bar in Providence, Rhode Island in 1860. He served a term in the Rhode Island legislature for 1878–79. The "Analytical Class-Book of Botany", coauthored with his aunt, arrying the epigram "Science is the only interpreter of Nature"antedated by two years the first edition of Class Book of Botany, by

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

. Congdon was the botanist whom correctly diagnosed the rediscovery of the long-lost ''

Shortia galacifolia ''Shortia galacifolia'', the Oconee bells or acony bell, is a rare North American plant in the family Diapensiaceae found in the southern Appalachian Mountains, concentrated in the tri-state border region of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Ca ...

'', a relict herb that had been long sought by Gray. Congdon discovered over 30 new species of plants, many of which are rare and endemic to the Yosemite region, including '' Lewisia congdonii'', '' Eriophyllum congdonii'', ''

Garrya congdonii ''Garrya congdonii'', the chaparral silktassel or Congdon silktassel, a fairly common evergreen shrub native to the northern California Coast Ranges, is one of a small biological family of approximately twenty known species in the family ''Gar ...

'', ''

Lomatium congdonii ''Lomatium congdonii'', known by the common names Mariposa desertparsley and Congdon's lomatium, is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family . Distribution ''Lomatium congdonii'' is endemic to California, where it is known from only ab ...

'', '' Monolopia congdonii'', and others. Congdon's collection in Yosemite National Park form an important record of that flora: he was the first botanist to collect the rare Yosemite bog-orchid ('' Platanthera yosemitensis'') in 1895; a species that was not recognized as distinct until 2007]

Reading

* Jenkins, Charles F. (1942). "Asa Gray and his quest for Shortia glaucifolia". ''Arnoldia'' Vol. 2:13–28. * Jepson, Willis L. (1928). "The botanical explorers of California-II". Joseph Whipple Congdon. ''Madrono'' Vol. 1:175–177.

Publications

* Greene, Francis and Joseph W. Congdon. (1855). ''Analytical Class-Book of Botany''. D. Appleton & Co., New York. * Congdon, J.W. (1891). "Mariposa County as a botanical district". ''Zoe'' 2:234–236. * Congdon, J.W. (1900). "New species, principally from Mariposa County". ''Erythea'' 7:183–189. * Congdon, J.W. (1904). "A new Lupine from California". ''Muhlenbergia'' 1:38. 1904.

References

Scientists from California 1834 births 1910 deaths American botanists Botanists active in North America Brown University alumni 19th-century American lawyers {{US-botanist-stub