Per Axel Rydberg (July 6, 1860 – July 25, 1931) was a Swedish-born, American

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

who was the first curator of the New York Botanical Garden

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, 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 sh ...

Biography

Per Axel Rydberg was born in Odh,

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Vä ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1882. From 1884 to 1890, he taught mathematics at Luther Academy in Wahoo, Nebraska, while he studied at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. He graduated from the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

(B.S. in 1891) and (M.A. in 1895). He earned his graduate degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(Ph.D. in 1898). After he graduated, Rydberg received a commission from the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

to undertake a botanical exploration of western Nebraska. He received another one in 1892 to explore the Black Hills of South Dakota, and in 1893 he was in the Sand Hills, again in western Nebraska. During this time he continued to teach at the Luther Academy. In 1900 Rydberg conducted field work in southeast Colorado. In 1901 he visited

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

in England and made a return trip to Sweden as well. In 1905 he was collecting in Utah with visits to the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In 1911 he undertook an exploration of southeast Utah and in 1925, the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...

. A trip in 1926 took him to Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and the Dakotas. His final field expedition was in 1929 to Kansas and Minnesota but it was cut short due to illness and only included work in Kansas. He was a prolific research publisher, he described around 1700 new species in the course of his career. His expertise was principally in the flora of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

and

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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. From 1899, Rydberg was on the staff of the New York Botanical Garden, and he later became the first curator of the Garden's

. Dr. Rydberg was elected to membership in the Torrey Botanical Club in 1896. In 1900 he joined the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

and was elected a fellow the following year. Also that year, he was chosen as an Associate of the Botanical Society of America. In 1907 he became a member of the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

and the Ecological Society of America.

Personal life

Rydberg married his wife Alfrida Amanda (1878–1933). Rydberg died during 1931 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery.

Selected works

*1895: ''Flora Of The Sand Hills Of Nebraska'' *1897: ''A Report Upon the Grasses and Forage Plants of the Rocky Mountain Region'' with C. L. Shear *1898
''A Monograph of the North American Potentilleae''
*1900
''Catalogue of the Flora of Montana and the Yellowstone National Park''
ref> *1906
''Flora of Colorado''
*1917
''Flora of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent plains, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and neighboring parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, and British Columbia''
*1922
''Flora of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent plains, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and neighboring parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia''
*1918: ''Monograph on Rosa'' *1923
''Flora of the Black Hills of South Dakota''
*1923: ''Memories from the Department of Botany of Columbia University'' *1932: ''Flora of the Prairies and Plains of Central North America'' with M. A. Howe

Other works

*1901
''Contributions to the botany of the Yukon Territory, (with Nathaniel Lord Britton, Marshall A. Howe, Lucien Marcus Underwood, and R. S. Williams)''
*1903
''Flora of the southeastern United States;being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and the Indian territory and in Oklahoma and Texas east of the one-hundredth meridian,(with John Kunkel Small)''
*1919
''Key to the Rocky Mountain flora; Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia.''
*1899-1913
''Studies on Rocky Mountain flora.''
(Series: Contributions from the New York Botanical Garden)

References

Other sources

*Tiehm, Arnold; Frans Antonie Stafleu (1990) ''Per Axel Rydberg : a biography, bibliography, and list of his taxa'' (Bronx, N.Y.: New York Botanical Garden)

External links

*
Brief biography
on the website of

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rydberg, Per Axel 1860 births 1931 deaths University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Columbia University alumni Botanists from Colorado Botanists with author abbreviations Swedish emigrants to the United States People from Herrljunga Municipality Torrey Botanical Society members