Albert Spear Hitchcock (September 4, 1865 – December 16, 1935) was an 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 ...

and agrostologist.

Biography

Hitchcock graduated from the Iowa Agricultural College (now

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

) with bachelor's degree in 1884 and M.S. in 1886. From 1892 to 1901 he was a professor of botany at the Kansas State Agricultural College. Hitchcock joined the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

in 1901 as Assistant Agrostologist under

Frank Lamson-Scribner Frank Lamson-Scribner (April 19, 1851 – February 22, 1938) was an American botanist and pioneering plant pathologist. In 1885, he became the first scientist to study the diseases of economic plants for the United States Department of Agricultur ...

. In 1905 he was put in charge of the grass herbarium and became Systematic Agrostologist. After 1928, he held the title of Principal Biologist in charge of Systematic Agrostology of the Department of Agriculture and kept that title until his death in 1935. In 1912 he became Custodian of Grasses, Division of Plants,

United States National Museum The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. Hitchcock remained Custodian without remuneration until his death. His field notebooks are archived in the Smithsonian Institution. He was a professor of botany in the Kansas State Agricultural College and authored over 250 works during his lifetime.

Works

The Hitchcock-Chase Collection consists of 2,707 drawings (mostly ink, but some pencil) of grasses, representing hundreds of genera, that were assembled by the Smithsonian Institution agrostologists Albert Spear Hitchcock (1865–1935) and

Mary Agnes Chase Mary Agnes Chase (April 29 1869 – September 24 1963) was an American botanist who specialized in agrostology, the study of grasses. Although lacking formal education past elementary school, Chase was able to rise through the ranks as a botanis ...

(1869–1963). The collection is on indefinite loan to Hunt Institute from the Smithsonian. Hitchcock edited and distributed two exsiccatae, namely ''Plants of Kansas'' and ''American grasses''.

Publications

Manual of the Grasses of the West Indies
– Miscellaneous Publication #243,

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 ...

, Washington DC (1936)
Manual of the grasses of the United States
– Miscellaneous Publication #200,

, Washington DC (1935)
A Manual of Farm Grasses
(1921)
A.S. Hitchcock Field Books, a set on Flickr

References

External links

* * * American taxonomists 1865 births 1935 deaths Agrostologists Smithsonian Institution people United States Department of Agriculture officials Botanical Society of America Kansas State University faculty 19th-century American botanists 20th-century American botanists Iowa State University alumni {{US-botanist-stub