Alvah Augustus Eaton (November 20, 1865 – September 29, 1908) 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 ...

who described many species of

pteridophytes A pteridophyte is a vascular plant (with xylem and phloem) that reproduces by means of spores. Because pteridophytes produce neither flowers nor seeds, they are sometimes referred to as " cryptogams", meaning that their means of reproduction is h ...

, orchids and grass.

Early life

Eaton was born in Seabrook,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, and moved to a family farm in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

when he was twelve. He finished a four-year high school education within two years at Putnam School in

Newburyport Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with a vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The m ...

Career

He worked as a teacher for a year in Seabrook, and for three more in California, along with farming. After returning to New England, he decided to become a florist due to pressure from poor health. He went on three field trips to Florida and one to Europe for the Ames Botanical Laboratory in Easton, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Linnean Fern Chapter, precursor to 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 frequently contributed to the ''Fern Bulletin'' and developed an

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 ...

for the Society. Eaton issued the

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

-like series ''The genus Equisetum in North America. Fern Bulletin Distribution''. Until his death in 1908, he was curator of the herbarium.

Works

Much of his work is documented at the

Gray Herbarium The Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Botanical Museum is one of three which comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. The documents consist of sixteen notebooks written between approximately 1895 and 1906, four letters from 1899 to 1905, and a few undated manuscripts.

References

External links

*
Biography of Alvah Augustus Eaton
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Alvah Augustus Botanists with author abbreviations American pteridologists 1865 births 1908 deaths People from Seabrook, New Hampshire People from Salisbury, Massachusetts