Jesse More Greenman (December 27, 1867 – January 20, 1951) 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 ...

. He specialized in tropical flora, with emphasis on plants from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. He was an authority on the genus ''

Senecio ''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels. Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Description Mo ...

'' and noted for his work at the

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropy, philanthropist Henry Shaw (philanthropist), Henry Shaw. I ...

Life and career

Greenman was born in

North East, Pennsylvania North East is a borough in North East Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States, northeast of Erie. Its name comes from its position in the northeastern corner of Erie County, despite being near the extreme northwest of Pennsylvani ...

. Greenman earned his baccalaureate from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

1893, then became an instructor for a year. In 1894 he went to

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 ...

studying and working in 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 ...

until 1899 when he earned his master's degree. There he began a long association with

Benjamin Lincoln Robinson Benjamin Lincoln Robinson (November 8, 1864 – July 27, 1935) was an American botanist. Biography Robinson was born on November 8, 1864, in Bloomington, Illinois. In 1887, he received an A.B. from Harvard. He married Margaret Louise Casson on ...

. In 1901 he earned his Ph.D. from the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. He then taught at Harvard from 1902–1905. In 1902 he married Anne Turner, who was born in 1875 and died in 1936. Subsequently, he worked as an assistant to the curator of the Department of Botany of the Natural History Museum in Chicago and as an Assistant Professor of Botany at the University of Chicago. He began working at the Missouri Botanical Garden as curator in 1913, remaining there until his retirement in 1943. While he was curator, the collection of flora there grew from 600,000 to about 1,500,000. He was also a professor of botany at

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

. He suffered a severe stroke in 1945. Greenman and his wife had two sons, Jesse Greenman, Jr. and Milton T. Greenman. Milton accompanied him on his trip to Central America in 1922.

Honors

Beginning in 1968, the "Jesse M. Greenman Award" is awarded by the "Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium" in his honor for an academic paper "...judged best in vascular plant or bryophyte systematics based on a doctoral dissertation that was published during the previous year". "The genera ''Greenmania'' P. Hieronymus and '' Greenmaniella'' W.M. Sharp were both named after him. ''Senecio multivenius'' Benth., ''S. cooperi'' Greenm., and ''S. megaphyllus'' Greenm. were reclassified in the new genus '' Jessea'' H. Robinson and ''J. Cuatrecases'' in Greenman's honor."

Publications

* 1938. ''Studies of South American Senecios''. 28 pp. * 1929. ''A New Variety of

aureus L.'' 2 pp. * 1929. ''New Agaves from Southwestern United States'' * 1918. ''A New Selaginella from Mexico'' * 1917. ''Two exotic Compositae in North America''. 4 pp. * 1916. ''A New Senecio from Jamaica''. 2 pp. * 1915. ''The Yareta Or Vegetable Sheep of Peru'' * 1914
''Descriptions of North American Senecioneae''
* 1912. ''I. New species of Cuban Senecioneae. II. Diagnoses of new species and notes on other spermatophytes, chiefly from Mexico and Central America''. Fieldiana. Botany series v. 2, Nº
Art.
* 1911. ''Some Canadian Senecios''. 5 pp. * 1908. ''The Generic Name Goldmania'' * 1908. ''Notes on the Genus Senecio''. 69 pp. * 1907
''New Or Noteworthy Spermatophytes From Mexico, Central America, And The West Indies''
Kessinger Publishing, LLC, . * 1906
''Studies in the Genus Citharexylum''
190 pp. Field Columbian Museum Publication 117, Bot.series, Vol. 2 Nº 4. * 1906. ''Two New Species from Northwestern America'' * 1905. ''A New Krynitzkia'' * 1905. ''Descriptions of Spermatophytes from the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America''. Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard Univ 31. Editor Acad. 36 pp. * 1904. ''Notes on Southwestern and Mexican Plants'' * 1904. ''Diagnoses and Synonymy of Mexican and Central American Spermatophytes''. Proc. of the Am. Academy of Arts and Sci. 40. Editor Acad. 25 pp. * 1903. ''New and otherwise noteworthy Angiosperms from Mexico and Central America''. Contrib. from the Gray Herbarium, Harvard Univ. 25. Editor Gray Herb. of Harvard Univ. 120 pp. * 1901. ''The Genus Senecio in New England''. 5 pp. * 1900. ''New Species and Varieties of Mexican Plants''. 315 pp. * 1899
''Northwestern Plants, Chiefly from Oregon''
6 pp.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenman, Jesse More American taxonomists Missouri Botanical Garden people 1867 births 1951 deaths Botanists active in North America Harvard University faculty University of Chicago faculty Harvard University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni People from North East, Pennsylvania Scientists from Pennsylvania 19th-century American botanists 20th-century American botanists Washington University in St. Louis faculty