Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer (June 14, 1870 – 1942) 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 plant collector.. He was mostly active in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, his collections being described as new species by both himself and other botanists. The Japanese sent him into

Santo Tomas Internment Camp Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp, was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II. The campus of the University of Santo T ...

during the Philippines campaign and he died there.

Life and achievements

Elmer was born on June 14, 1870 in

Van Dyne, Wisconsin Van Dyne is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the town of Friendship, in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 292. The road traveling north-south through the community was ...

, United States,. to Jacob Van Dyne and Alvina Elmer. He was educated at

Washington State College Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. With an un ...

in 1899,.. married Emma Osterman in 1902 and earned an A.M. from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1903 (or 1904). Between 1896 and the year of the earning of his A.M., he collected numerous plants in

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

(especially

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

) then began describing new plant species, his name appearing in earlier numbers of (e.g. '' Festuca idahoensis'' in 1903). In 1904, he went to the

(an unincorporated territory of the United States at that time), where he consequently made his home through the life. He made extensive

plant collection Plant collecting is the acquisition of plant specimens for the purposes of research, cultivation, or as a hobby. Plant specimens may be kept alive, but are more commonly dried and pressed to preserve the quality of the specimen. Plant collectin ...

s in the Philippines from 1904 to 1927, and also in

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. According to Albert William Christian Theodore Herre,

Elmer Drew Merrill Elmer Drew Merrill (October 15, 1876 – February 25, 1956) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through ...

regarded Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer as the best plant collector working in the Philippines and

Southwestern Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenia ...

until the beginning of

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Merrill gave such reputation with a proof, i.e. . He was editor of ', where he published more than 1,500 new

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

Death

Elmer and his wife, Emma Osterman Elmer, had once planned to leave American-controlled Manila and return to their homeland shortly before the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

occurred. The Japanese invasion succeeded it in no time and involved the couple, as well. Adolph Elmer died on either April 17, 1942 or in July 1942, in the

in the

Manila, Philippines Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is ...

, of natural causes. His private type collection, held in the Philippine National Herbarium, was destroyed about that time. Emma Osterman Elmer survived internment.

Legacy

Many

are named in honor of Elmer, including ' (syn. ''Adenostylis elmeri'' ), ' (syn. ''B. peltata'' , nom. illeg.), ''

Castilleja elmeri ''Castilleja elmeri'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae with the common name Elmer's paintbrush. As with most ''Castilleja'' species, this is a facultative root hemiparasite and will usually be seen growing close to a ho ...

'' , ' (note that at least all of these four examples are based on Elmer's type specimens), and so on. The

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

Adelmeria ''Adelmeria'' is a genus of perennial herbs in the family Zingiberaceae which are endemic to the Philippines. Previously, ''Adelmeria'' had been considered a synonym of the genus ''Alpinia'', however, after a study showed ''Alpina'' to be highly ...

'' (Zingiberaceae), '' Elmera'' (Saxifragaceae), '' Elmerinula'' (Dothideomycetes), and ''Elmerobryum'' (Hypnaceae) are also named after him.

Explanatory notes

Citations

General bibliography

* * * * - its supplemented version
ElmerADE
is available on the website of the

National Herbarium of the Netherlands The National Herbarium of the Netherlands (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Nationaal Herbarium Nederland'') is one of largest herbarium, herbaria in the world with some 5.5 million specimens. It was established in through a decentralized merger of the ma ...

. Accessed: 21 May 2021. *

External links

Details - Leaflets of Philippine botany
Archived by

Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open-access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working ...

. Accessed May 21, 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Elmer, Adolph D. E. 1870 births 1942 deaths Date of death unknown American botanists People from Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin Stanford University alumni Washington State University alumni American people who died in Japanese internment camps