Lucien Marcus Underwood (October 26, 1853 – November 16, 1907) 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 ...

and

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Early life and career

He was born in

New Woodstock, New York New Woodstock is a hamlet in the town of Cazenovia, Madison County, New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located ...

. He enrolled at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 1873 and graduated in 1877. He earned his masters in 1878 and finally and completed his PhD in 1879 under

Alexander Winchell Alexander Winchell (December 31, 1824, in North East, New York – February 19, 1891, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) was an American geologist who contributed to this field mainly as an educator and a popular lecturer and writer. His views on evolutio ...

. During his graduate school, he taught at

Cazenovia Seminary Cazenovia College was a private college in Cazenovia, New York. Founded as the Genesee Seminary in 1824 and sponsored by the Methodist Church in 1894, the college adopted the name of "Cazenovia Seminary". It was reorganized in 1942 after church s ...

for two years. After a year's teaching at

Hedding College Hedding College was a college in Abingdon, Illinois, that operated from 1855 to 1927. The school was named after Methodist Bishop Elizah Hedding. Merged with Illinois Wesleyan University in 1930. The campus was used by the Roosevelt Military Acad ...

, in 1880 he was appointed professor of geology and botany in

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

. In 1883, he was appointed professor of geology, botany, and zoology at Syracuse. In 1890, he accepted the Morgan Fellowship at Harvard University to study the Sullivant and Taylor collection of

hepatics Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry onl ...

. In 1891 he became professor of botany in

De Pauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was fo ...

. In 1896, after one year stint as a biology professor at

Alabama Polytechnic Institute Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a total enrollment of more than 34,000 students ...

(''Auburn''), Underwood became a professor of botany at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and joined the staff of the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

in 1907.

Works

Underwood published numerous papers in botanical journals, and was the author o
''Our Native Ferns and how to study them''
(Bloomington, Ill., 1881; 4th ed., 1893), ''Descriptive Catalogue of North American

Hepaticae Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry onl ...

'' (New York, 1884) and “Hepaticae” in

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

's ''Manual of Botany''. He also prepared 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 ...

work ''An Illustrated Century of Fungi'' with 100 specimens (1889), and together with Orator F. Cook the

work ''Hepaticae Americanae'' with 160 specimens (1887–93) and ''Hepaticae Americanae'' with 200 specimens (1887–99).Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany. Underwood's papers are maintained at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the

Personal life

After losing large amounts of money on Wall Street in the

Panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange suddenly fell almost ...

, Underwood attempted to murder his wife and daughter before committing suicide at the family's home in

Redding, Connecticut Redding is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Regi ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, Lucien Marcus 1853 births 1907 deaths 1907 suicides American mycologists Auburn University faculty Cazenovia College faculty DePauw University faculty Illinois Wesleyan University faculty People from Madison County, New York American pteridologists Scientists from New York (state) Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States Suicides in Connecticut Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Syracuse University faculty Torrey Botanical Society members

Early life and career

Works

Personal life

See also

References

External links