Lewis Edward Anderson (June 16, 1912 – February 1, 2007) 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 ...

dedicated to the study of

mosses Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ho ...

, and was an expert on the

North American North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...

bryoflora Bryology (from Greek language, Greek , a moss, a liverwort) is the branch of botany concerned with the scientific study of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). Bryologists are botanists who have an active interest in observing, recordi ...

Early life

Anderson was born to a farming family in a rural area of

Batesville, Mississippi Batesville is a city in Panola County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,523 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 7,463 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Batesville is one of two county seats which th ...

. He began his education in a small school that convened first grade only every other year, so he started at age 5 and was more or less moved along as teachers recognized comprehension, so he left high school at 15 and graduated from

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

with a Bachelor of Science at 19. He undertook postgraduate studies in botany at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and received a master's degree in 1933. It was here where Anderson became interested in mosses while studying under Hugo Leander Blomquist. At age 22, he earned his Ph.D. 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 ...

Career

In 1936, Anderson was added to the botany faculty at Duke University to specialize

cytology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

, and he was given the responsibility of curating the moss herbarium. Anderson's research then began to shift from cellular cytology to the ecology and classification of mosses. He, with the help of his colleague Ruth Margery Addoms, built the institution's first general botany course. Throughout his career, Anderson was assisted by his wife, Pat, whom he met while she was a nursing student at Duke. They married in 1941 and after having 5 children between 1942 and 1947, she accompanied him on field trips, marking topography maps with collection sites and managing specimen packets. She also helped prepare and distribute "The Bryologist", journal of The American Bryological Society. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Anderson took leave from Duke to serve in the Navy and was intelligence officer from February through September, 1945 on the , an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. He was awarded a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and was discharged as a lieutenant commander. Anderson frequently collaborated with Howard A. Crum, and in 1981, the two published a two-volume flora on the mosses of eastern North America. With Crum he edited 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 ...

''Mosses of North America''. Anderson continued to expand the bryophyte herbarium at Duke, and he helped to develop a graduate program in bryology. He retired from Duke in 1982.

Legacy

The moss genus '' Bryoandersonia'' was named after him by Harold E. Robinson. Some species, including ''

Bryocrumia andersonii ''Bryocrumia vivicolor'' is a rheophytic species of moss belonging to the family Hypnaceae, and is the sole representative of the genus ''Bryocrumia''. The genus has been found in moist, shady sites at moderate elevation in the United States, Ch ...

'', also bear his name. In 1998, the bryophyte herbarium at Duke University was officially named the L.E. Anderson Bryophyte Herbarium. It holds approximately 260,000 specimens.

Selected publications

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Lewis Edward American bryologists Botanists with author abbreviations 1912 births 2007 deaths