Roland McMillan Harper (1878 – 1966) 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 ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

, naturalist, explorer, and writer. He wrote for the ''Savannah Morning News'' and covered the settlement of Georgia's wiregrass region in the late 19th century. He is known for his work in the Southeastern United States.

Life and legacy

He was born in

Farmington, Maine Farmington is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,592. Farmington is home to the University of Maine at Farmington, Nordica Memorial Auditorium, the Nordica Homeste ...

. When he was 10, his family moved to

Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, Whitfield County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton metropolitan area, Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encomp ...

and five years later to

Americus, Georgia Americus is the county seat of Sumter County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,230. It is the principal city of the Americus Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Schley ...

. He and his brother Frances retraced

William Bartram William Bartram (April 20, 1739 – July 22, 1823) was an American naturalist, writer and explorer. Bartram was the author of an acclaimed book, now known by the shortened title Bartram's ''Travels'', which chronicled his explorations of the S ...

's journey through Alabama and the

Florida Panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

. Harper discovered and described ''

Scirpus georgianus ''Scirpus georgianus'', or Georgia bulrush, is a flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae that grows in much of the eastern half of North America. Its habitat is wet marshy field areas prone to seasonal flooding. It was described by Roland McMi ...

'' before graduating high school and discovered another 29 flowering plants during his career. More than a dozen are named for him. He collected newspaper clippings, and train timetables. He was a

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

. Harper left a collection of photographs and documents. He was an acquaintance of Nathaniel Britton,

Hugo de Vries Hugo Marie de Vries (; 16 February 1848 – 21 May 1935) was a Dutch botanist and one of the first geneticists. He is known chiefly for suggesting the concept of genes, rediscovering the laws of heredity in the 1890s while apparently unaware of ...

, and

Charles Davenport Charles Benedict Davenport (June 1, 1866 – February 18, 1944) was a biologist and eugenicist influential in the American eugenics movement. Early life and education Davenport was born in Stamford, Connecticut on June 1, 1866, to Amzi Bened ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Roland McMillan 1878 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American botanists People from Farmington, Maine American geographers 19th-century American botanists Scientists from Maine People from Dalton, Georgia Scientists from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Americus, Georgia American white supremacists