Carl Clawson Epling (15 April 1894 – 17 November 1968) was an American botanist and

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

. He is best known for being the major authority on the

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savo ...

(mint family) of the Americas from the 1920s to the 1960s. In his later years he also developed an interest in

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar worki ...

. University of California: In Memoriam − Carl Clawson Epling, Botany: UC Los Angeles
December 1970.

History

Epling obtained his B.A. from the College of Agriculture at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1921. He received his M.A. in 1923 and Ph.D. in 1924 from

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is ...

, with a dissertation on the genus ''

Monardella ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for ...

''. Find A Grave Memorial.com: Dr Carl Clawson Epling (1894-1968)
/ref> Epling's first academic position was as an instructor in botany at

Oregon State College 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 ...

in 1921-22. He became staff member at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

in 1924. In 1941, he was made a faculty research lecturer at UCLA. He was honored by UCLA with an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1963. He retired from UCLA in 1965. From 1944 until his retirement, he held the title of systematist in the

University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

Agricultural Experiment Station An agricultural experiment station (AES) or agricultural research station (ARS) is a scientific research center that investigates difficulties and potential improvements to food production and agribusiness. Experiment station scientists work with ...

. He was also a researcher in

population genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and pop ...

. At the time of his death he was studying the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

ian rain forests. Carl Clawson Epling died in Santa Monica, in 1968.

Works

Epling published more than one hundred scientific works ranging from monographs to contributions to local floras, and described numerous

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

and

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

new to science—including the well known psychoactive ''

Salvia divinorum ''Salvia divinorum'' (Latin: "sage of the diviners"; also called ska maría pastora, seer's sage, yerba de la pastora, magic mint or simply salvia) is a plant species with transient psychoactive properties when its leaves are consumed by che ...

''.

Citation

Honours

In 2012, the genus name of ''

Eplingiella ''Eplingiella'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lamiaceae. Its native range is eastern Brazil. The genus name of ''Eplingiella'' is in honour of Carl Epling (1894–1968), an American botanist and taxonomist, and it was ...

'' was named in his honour.

Personal

Epling was born in

Waverly, Illinois Waverly, founded in 1836, is the second largest city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,307 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Jacksonville Micropolitan Statistical Area. The town was named after the Waverley nove ...

, son of Allen Judson Epling and Inez S. Epling. He was married to Ruth Persons Epling, they had 2 children; Elizabeth and anthropologist Philip Judson Epling (1931-1973).

References