Joseph Nelson Rose (January 11, 1862 – May 4, 1928) 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 was born in

Union County, Indiana Union County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 7,087. The county seat is Liberty. Since 2018, Union County has been included in the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan ...

. His father died serving during the Civil War when Joseph Rose was a young boy. He later graduated from high school in Liberty, Indiana. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Wabash College in 1889. having received his B.A. in Biology and M.A. Paleobotany earlier at the same institute. He married Lou Beatrice Sims in 1888 and produced with her three sons and three daughters. Rose worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and became an assistant

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

at the Smithsonian in 1896. While Rose was employed by the national museum, he was an authority on several plants families, including

Apiaceae Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering p ...

(Parsley Family) and

Cactaceae A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

(Cactus Family). He made several field trips to Mexico, and presented specimens to the Smithsonian and the New York Botanical Garden. With

Nathaniel Lord Britton Nathaniel Lord Britton (1859 – 1934) was an American botanist and taxonomist who co-founded the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, New York (state), New York. Early life Britton was born on the 15 of January 1859 at New Dorp, Staten Island ...

, Rose published many articles on the

Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (, from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the crassulas, the stonecrops or the orpine family, are a diverse Family (biology), family of dicotyledon angiosperms primarily characterized by succulent leaves and a form of phot ...

. He took a leave of absence from the Smithsonian to do further fieldwork in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and publish with Britton, the four-volume work, '' The Cactaceae'' (1919–1923), illustrated by Mary Emily Eaton (1873–1961). Rose returned to work afterwards at the Smithsonian, making further contributions to

Botany 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 ...

Honors

'' Astroblepus rosei'' is a species of

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

of the family

Astroblepidae ''Astroblepus'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family Astroblepidae found in South America and Panama. This genus is the only member of its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andes, Andean area. ...

that was named after Rose. It can be found on Cajamarca,

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. In 1890, botanist S.Watson published '' Rhodosciadium'', a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s from Mexico and Guatemala, belonging to the family

and named in Rose's honor.

Notes

External links

Biographical material and related botany
* Joseph Nelson Rose letters to Walter Dean

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Joseph Nelson 1862 births 1928 deaths Wabash College alumni People from Union County, Indiana 19th-century American botanists 20th-century American botanists Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery