Charlotte Goodding Reeder (born Charlotte Olive Goodding; July 26, 1916 – October 23, 2009) was an American agrostologist who was active in identifying the flora of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. The abbreviation C.O.Goodd. has also been used.

Biography

Reeder was born on July 26, 1916 in

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city's estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff's combined metropolitan area has ...

. She was the daughter of accomplished botanist

Leslie Newton Goodding Leslie Newton Goodding (1880–1967) was an American botanist who was considered an expert in the flora of the Southwestern United States. Biography Goodding attended the University of Wyoming from 1899 to 1903, learning botany under Aven Nelson ...

. Picking up from her father, she began to help him identify species in Arizona. She attended the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

, earning her M.A. in 1939 for her thesis on ''

Muhlenbergia ''Muhlenbergia'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The genus is named in honor of the German-American amateur botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815). Many of the species are known by the common name muhly. The greatest ...

''.Reeder, Charlotte Olive (1916-)
/ref> She then took classes at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

where she met

John R. Reeder John Raymond Reeder (July 29, 1914 – February 8, 2009) was an American agrostologist who was active in identifying the grasses of New Guinea, Wyoming, and Arizona. Biography Reeder was born on a farm in Charlotte, Michigan on July 29, 1914. ...

. The two married in 1941. With her husband conscripted in the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Reeder went to work at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

under Agnes Chase. Upon John's return from the war, he took a post at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and the couple moved to

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. Reeder continued her studies on ''Muhlenbergia'', titling herself "Rogue Botanist". The Reeders moved to Wyoming in 1968, where they collaborated on work at the Rocky Mountain Herbarium of the University of Wyoming. In 1976, they moved to

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

to research at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

Herbarium. After a severe car accident, the two decided to retire.

Legacy

The genus ''

Reederochloa ''Distichlis'' is a genus of American and Australian plants in the grass family.Bell, H. L. & J. T. Columbus. 2008. Proposal for an expanded ''Distichlis'' (Poaceae, Chloridoideae): Support from molecular, morphological, and anatomical characters ...

'' and species ''

Muhlenbergia reederorum ''Muhlenbergia'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The genus is named in honor of the German-American amateur botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815). Many of the species are known by the common name muhly. The greatest ...

'' were named in honor of the Reeders by Thomas Robert Soderstrom.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeder, Charlotte Goodding 1916 births 2009 deaths American botanists Agrostologists