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Harold Robinson Š Recipient of the 2010 Asa

Harold Robinson Š Recipient of the 2010 Asa

Copyright (c) American Society for Taxonomists. All rights reserved. Delivered by Ingenta to IP: 192.168.39.211 on: Fri, 01 Oct 2021 00:29:15 DOI 10.1600/036364411X553063 © Copyright2011 bythe American SocietyofPlantTaxonomists Systematic Botany outstanding accomplishments pertinentto the goalsof and specimendeterminations Robinsonhasdrawn. Cuatrecasas, uponwhosepublications,herbariumcuration, associated synantherologists, namelySidneyBlakeand Jose this award astangentialrecognition ofearlierSmithsonian- McVaugh, andJerzyRzedowski.Itissatisfying, too,toview John K.Small,JulianSteyermark, RupertBarneby, Rogers Art Cronquist, PaulStandley, I.M.Johnston,MerrittFernald, nomic research from the20thcenturyandintopresent; and heeasilybelongswithothermajorfigures ofbasictaxo- Blake, Angel Cabrera, JoseCuatrecasas, andBillieTurner, the Americas are B.L.Robinson,JesseGreenman, Sidney Harold’s workisbestknown,hiscomparablecolleaguesin with taxonomicrestructuring. Inthe , where era described,andnomenclaturalcombinationsassociated ber ofpublications,numbernewspeciesandgen- is theleaderinresearch productivity, asmeasured bynum- atists inNorth America. It’slikelythatinboth centurieshe among themajor20thand21stcenturybotanicalsystem- The ASPT Asa Gray award isgiven“toan individualfor Harold Robinson’scontributionstoscienceplacehim (2011), 36(1):pp.1–4

2 Msor Btncl adn P Bx 9, t Lus Msor 616 . . . ([email protected] ) A. S. U. 63166 Missouri Louis, St. 299, Box PO Garden, Botanical Missouri 1 2925 HartwoodDrive,FortWorth, Texas 76109U.S. A. ( [email protected] ) Hrl Rbno — eiin o te 00 s Ga Award Gray Asa 2010 the of Recipient — Robinson Harold Fig. 1 . . u L Nesom L. Guy Harold Robinson.PhotobyMauricioDiazgranados. 1 n on . Pruski F. John and 1 and particularly micromorphological, diversity ofthehugely tant. Second,Harold’s understandingof themorphological, tions forsomeonewhosemain focusissotaxonomicallydis- which hehasmadeastartling numberoftaxonomiccontribu- this expertiseimprobably extendstoagroup forDipterato group aswellplantdiversityingeneral.InHarold’s case, ing bodyofknowledgepertaining tobothafocalresearch “giant” ofplanttaxonomywho hasamassedatruly stagger- tion. First,Harold isstrongly inthemoldoftraditional career thatare compellinginmakingourrecommenda- fuller statement,theCommitteeprovided thissummary. plary role asamuseumandspecimen-basedresearcher.” Ina established conceptsof Asteraceae taxonomyandhis exem- especially withrespect tohisprescient, dramaticrevisions to all feltthat[Harold Robinson]wasaveryworthyrecipient, Awards Committee(fideMarkFishbein,9June2010):“We to andbearupontaxonomyherbaria.”From the ASPT omy, toincludethoseareas andfieldsofstudythatcontribute promote educationandresearch inthefieldofplanttaxon- Society. …TheSocietyisorganized tofoster, encourage,and “We were particularly struck byseveral aspectsofHarold’s 2

Copyright (c) American Society for Plant Taxonomists. All rights reserved. Delivered by Ingenta to IP: 192.168.39.211 on: Fri, 01 Oct 2021 00:29:15 SSEAI OAY [Volume 36 era, therestructuring of nearly universaltendencytoward recognizing smallergen- But withinsightsfrom moleculardataandacorresponding, and thenumerous newlyproposed andresurrected genera. criticism, inlarge partbecauseofthealacritypublication huge SYSTEMATIC BOTANY the lateBobKingindescribinggenericsegregates from the work of“H.Rob.”Thiswork,whichbeganinthe1960swith , andLiabeae,showamajorimprintfrom the especially inthetribesEupatorieae,Vernonieae, , gering inandofitself!” based research. Third, thesheervolumeofhisoutputisstag- is underscored byHarold’s strong associationwithmuseum- a timewhenmolecularapproaches are paramount. Thispoint one’s studygroup forinforminggoodtaxonomy, especiallyat importance ofunderstandingallaspectsthemorphology to recognize anindividualwhoexemplifiesthefundamental analysis toanastoundingdegree. We are especiallycompelled upheavals havebeenbornoutbymolecularphylogenetic that hisoftencontroversial andhotlycontestedtaxonomic diverse andspecies-richCompositaeissodeepthorough 2 Rubiaceae asopportunities andcoworkersallowed.” Harold also ventured inafewcasesintoalgae, lichens,cacti,and needed doinginthegroups withwhichIamfamiliar. I’ve nym ofLiabeaeRydb. lication) thetribalnameLiabeae H.Rob.&Brettell isan iso- common Andean of test oftime,althoughHarold himselfdistributedreprints generic andsupragenericnoveltieshavebeguntostandthe cies. Thisestimatemaybeconsiderablyconservative.Many than 100intheEupatorieaealone)and600are newspe- approaching 3,500.Ofthese,about200are newgenera(more ties (includingnewcombinations)publishedbyH.Rob.are directions ofhisresearch. tion isincludedbelowtoillustratethebreadth andmajor through 2010,that’sanaverageof17peryear. A shortselec- studentinKnoxville) publication in1956(whileaMaster’s text ofknowingwhat’sneededtobeknown.Sincehisfirst guable evidenceofplanningandfollow-through inthecon- ways togaugeresearch productivity, butpublicationisinar- at least910(asofNovember2010).Ofcoursethere are other Botany Departmentwebsite,hehasauthored andcoauthored list ofpublicationspostedonhisstaff pageoftheSmithsonian overview, beautifully andfullyillustrated. Robinson 1987 ) soonprovided adocumentedsummaryand bra. “TheGeneraoftheEupatorieae(Asteraceae)”( King and and theimpliedcriticismiscancelledinbotanicalalge- then, ashasproved tobethe case,sowere KingandRobinson course, Rogerswasessentiallycorrect inhisobservation,but on faith”(Contr. Univ. MichiganHerb.15:181–190.1982).Of in suchashorttime,andaskedthepublictotakesomuchofit posed suchsweepingreorganization ofamajorplantgroup of thatgenus:“Nootherauthors…inmoderntimeshavepro- made thisobservationinhisadherence toaconservativeview restructuring, RogersMcVaugh (thefirst Asa Grayawardee) groups followedsuit. scient forerunner ofcontemporarysystematics. Studyofother Species diversityandtaxonomicstructure inthe Asteraceae, In hiswords: “I’vealwaysaimedtodothethings that As estimatedfrom IndexKewensis,nomenclaturalnovel- Research— Relentless As anexampleofperspectivesinthemidst Harthamnus Eupatorium H.Rob.withanerratumequatingitthe Plazia daphnoides , metwithsomeinitialresistance and As counted from Harold’s complete Eupatorium , andnoted (alas,postpub- nowappearsasapre- Eupatorium born inSyracuse, New York in1932andraisedWinchester, with broader perspectiveare remarkable. him. Evenso,hisrelentless publicationandnumerous reports cations in piecemeal inworkingtoward larger goalsandthatthepubli- publications, hemodestlyavers thataportionofithasbeen “doing whatneedstobedone.” As tothemassivenumberof he likestodescribehiscourseas“gettingthejobdone”and tivity surely indicatesthathefindstheresearch irresistible, along the“edgeofsnowbanks,”andalthoughhisproduc- groups” (“garbagepits”)ratherthanpickresearch projects larger groups. Infacthelovestoworkinthe“bigandmessy atic research, butalsothatitbringsanobligationtoworkin collection underliesapotentialtobeproductive insystem- Pappobolusrobinsonii (i.e. results intheirony ofcorrespondingly fewCompositae tifications anddescriptionasnewofsomanyCompositae fest inanyopenherbariumcabinetatUS.Harold’s bulkiden- Tropicos databasesentfrom Brazilianinstitutionsare mani- innumerable Compositaecollectionsnotrepresented inthe uted totheworld’sleadingherbaria.Hisdeterminationsof mined byH.Robinson,withtheirduplicateswidelydistrib- 18,000+ collectionsofCompositae(largely Andean) deter- fication. MissouriBotanicalGarden’s Tropicos systemlists large partbecauseofthe specimenssenttohimforidenti- R. M.Kingandhisco-collectorssuchasEarlBishop,in during Harold’s tenure, partlybecauseofthefieldwork North American materialssurely havegrown exponentially American andSouth American accessions.Buttheextra- 1955–1996) hadcontributedgreatly toexpansionofCentral (1892–1959) andJoseCuatrecasas (Research Associate atUS, and hisimmediatepredecessors inWashington, SidneyBlake America collectionsalready were strong whenhearrived, a massivecollectionof Asteraceae (andothers)atUS.North he clearlyisathomeamongthedetailsofchemistry. tion ofsecondarymetabolitestoCompositaetaxonomy, and Bob King),butsomeofhispapersare overviewsoftherela- ing identifications(thematerialswere largely collectedby Harold’s contributionto this effort wasprimarilyinprovid- in thejournal resulted inthepublicationofmore than230articles, mostly mostly amongtheacetylenesandsesquiterpenelactones.This in Berlin,beganaseriesofstudiessecondarycompounds King andFerdinand BohlmannoftheTechnical University morphology. fruits, nowfullyabsorbedintonormalsystematicstudiesof Asteraceae andreemphasis ofmicrocharacters offlowers and tion ofslides,ledtoapplicationsimilartechniquesinthe the necessityofstudyingmicrocharacters through prepara- and eventheOrchidaceae. Hisbackground inbryology, with in othervascularplantfamilies,especiallytheBromeliaceae Compositae, he’sanacknowledgedandpublishedexpert ( era in2010).Heiscoauthorofanewgenusgreen algae species and7newgenera(themostrecent ofthenewgen- ily Dolichopodidae,inwhichhehasdescribedover200new ogy, and(extensively)bryophytes. And insects…theflyfam- has studiedandpublishedinthefieldsofanatomy, palynol- Struveopsis How didH.RobinsonArrive inBotany?— Harold happilyacknowledgesthatworkinginalarge Wrig t h Smithsonian— the at Working In the1970sand1980s,Harold, incollaborationwithBob Robinsonecio Phytochemistry Rhyne &H.Robinson,1968).Outsideofthe Phytochemistry , , Ayapana robinsonii ) namedinhishonor. mayhavehadminimalinputfrom , detailingnewcompounds. Harold worksprimarilyfrom , , Calea robinsoniana aod was Harold , and , Copyright (c) American Society for Plant Taxonomists. All rights reserved. Delivered by Ingenta to IP: 192.168.39.211 on: Fri, 01 Oct 2021 00:29:15 tion [ofcorollas] withmulticellularglands, thebasewith and speciesfeatured Haroldesque phrases like“tubularpor- King’s subsequentdescription oftheplantasanewgenus moss-adapted eyestothemicrocharacters oftheflowers, and office. A dissection andpreparation ofslidesbrought Harold’s cally becauseHarold hadacompoundmicroscope inhis help inmicroscopic examination,KingaskingRobinson basi- before thatKinghadbrought aMexicanplanttoHarold for lished in1966,astudyofthegenus (of 200+)jointlyauthored byKingandRobinsonwaspub- were in in Catonsville,Maryland.King’sfirstreports onEupatorieae begun byBobKing,whowasemployedatthetimeteaching Beyond— in restructuring theEupatorieae. thesis,andin1966hebeganwithR.M.King of hisMaster’s through 1968––oneoftheexceptionswaspublicationpart subjects ofalmostallhisfirst45publications,from 1956 52 previously undescribed.”Fliesandbryophyteswere the previously knownfrom thesoutheasternUnitedStatesand recorded forMexico,including of theresulting publication in1969:“Fifty-three speciesare of thegenus Guerrero. Ontheseforaysheconcentratedonstudyingflies Veracruz andSanLuisPotosisouthtoChiapaswest Mondays) andmostlyineasternsouthernstates,from ing hisjokesthatanymisdeterminationsofwere madeon D. C.,inpartduetomigraineheadaches,lateryearsprompt- (he optedoutofdrivingacaruponreaching Washington, Sharp; thenextthree in1962 and1963were inhisowncar The firsttripwasthrough aninvitationtoaccompany A. J. to Mexicowithinsectsasanincreasingly importanttheme. ).” Intheseyearsthough,hemadefourformativetrips in 1962,as“AssociateCurator-Plant Taxonomist (Lower only twoyearsbefore accepting apositionattheSmithsonian College inSpartanburg, South Carolina, butwasthere for 3 Duke in1960,againwithaBotanymajorandZoologyminor. under thedirection ofLewis Anderson. Hegraduatedfrom University wasastudyofthemossfamilyBrachytheciaceae was thereal reason hewasthere. HisPh.D.research atDuke in Tennessee, buthisadvisor Aaron Sharp’sinterest inmosses sis (publishedin1960)wasastudyof degree withaBotanymajorandEntomologyminor. Histhe- of Tennessee from 1955–1957,graduatingwithaMaster’s close attention. and GeneraofNorth American Diptera,”alsohadcaughthis Department Head’sbookshelf,C.H.Curran’s“TheFamilies of OhioandMichigan(19561957),butavolumeonthe as anundergraduate produced twopublicationson mosses PRUSKI: ASAGRAY NESOMAND AWARD a BotanymajorandZoologyminor. Hisinterests andresearch with abiologicalbentandintentgraduatedin1955 get thingsdoneasanindividual.Heentered OhioUniversity (in contrasttobuildingbridgesanddams)couldallowone oped earlyandatleastbycollegehehadseenthatbiology Audubon Society. Harold’s owninterest inbiologydevel- good humorbyHarold) wasanaturalistandmemberofthe rewards ofthatpath.Hismother(incontrast,as notedin of Engineersandwasconvincinglyenthusiasticaboutthe Virginia. Hisfather, anengineer, workedforthe Army Corps Ferry,Virginia, about25milessouthwestofHarper’s West 2010] Into theEups(withPiqueriopsismichoacana)and He quicklyfoundemploymentonthefacultyofWofford Harold continuedasastudentofbiologyattheUniversity Brittonia The taxonomicincursionintoEupatorieaewas Enlinia and Rhodora (Dolichopodidae):from the Abstract in1965and 1967.Thefirstpaper Enlinia ciliata Hofmeisteria Gerardia (now H.Robinson , butshortly Agalinis ) Rbno, . n J Wls . 15 h bypye o cran limestone certain of bryophytes The 1956. Wells . J. and H. Robinson, great fortunethatmanymore great dayswillberealized. as Harold Robinsoncontinues hiscontributions,itwillbeour “a great dayfortheCompositae isonthehorizon.” As long Toronto thatbecauseofclimatechangesanddeforestation at his ated.” Harold, withhisusual understatedwrywitremarked Compositae Systematics,from whichnoneofushavegradu- noted that“Harold Robinson basicallybuilttheUniversityof and cytologicalstudies. fied theCassinianapproach, addingSEM,phytochemical, series), butKing,andespeciallyRobinsonhavehugelyampli- championed viahis2700+page“CassinionCompositae” (whose microscope-based observationsofCompositaeKing New Synantherology” wastitledinobvioustributetoCassini most properly astudyforthecompoundmicroscope.” “The Robinson concludedthat“synantherology likebryologyis others. continuing studiesofmosses,flies,bromeliads, orchids, and same approach, colorfullypunctuatedhere and there with , Moquinieae,andotherCompositaetribesusingthe gone ontoHeliantheae,,Vernonieae, Senecioneae, the subsequentfivedecadesHarold withsimilarfortitudehas here aspace-constrainedoverviewbuthappilynotethatover from southwesternMexico. King; RMK.1965. 40–50 µwide,450–500long”( 4,theanthersobtuse,50–60µlong,filaments numerous shorttapered bristlesca25µwide,125–175 µlong; Rbno, . n C Mrioea . 18 plnlgcl td o the of (Asteraceae). of study genera The 1987. palynological Robinson . H. and A M. R. 1986. King, Marticorena . (Asteraceae). C. Liabeae and tribe H. the of Robinson, review generic A Islands. 1983. Fernandez H. Juan Robinson, of mosses The synantherology . 1975. new H. The Robinson, 1970 . Robinson. H. and M. R. King, genera the of anatomy foliar on monograph A 1969. H. Robinson, of species Mexican the of study monographic A 1969. H. Robinson, the in limitations Generic 1966. Robinson. H. and M. R. King, the of (Diptera) Dolichopodidae the of synopsis A 1964. H. Robinson, Brachytheciaceae. American North of revisions Generic 1962. H. United Robinson, eastern the from Dolichopodidae new Four 1960. H. Robinson, genus The Ohio. 1960. H. southeastern Robinson, from collections Moss 1957. H. Robinson, In ournominationlettertothe ASPT awards committee,we In theirNewSynantherology paper(1970),Kingand sinks in Alpena County, Michigan . 1–581. MonographsinSystematic Botanyfrom theMissouri BotanicalGarden Liabeae (Asteraceae) . SmithsonianContributionstoBotany Contributions toBotany 6–11 . Smith attheSmithsonian]. Botany Cottendorfia 1 – 62 . [reporting results ofhistripstoMexicoin1962–63]. (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) . publication inrestructuring oftheEupatorieae]. complex (Compositae-Eupatorieae) . publication onflies]. Publications oftheEntomologicalSocietyAmerica southeastern UnitedStatesandadjacentregions . TheBryologist cation onflies]. States (Diptera) . Academy ofScience Journal ofScience publication]. Microliabum 2: 1 – 41 . [from earlyinfluence andassociationwithLyman , and 5 7 4 [h D thesis]. D. [Ph. 73–146. 65: 7 1 0. scn publication]. [second 15–20. 57: presentation atthe1989BSA meetingsin The OhioJournalofScience Navia lutaie Publications Illustrative 5 9–1 [at f i Mse’ thesis]. Master’s his of [part 9–16. 35: Piqueriopsis Smithsonian ContributionstoBotany 7 1–88. 27: (rmlaee (Bromeliaceae) . Gerardia Smithsonian ContributionstoZoology Brittonia , anewgenusofCompositae inTennessee . Piqueriopsis michoacana 4 1–69. 54: The Bryologist Phytologia 17:352–353).We give Smithsonian Contributionsto 0 21–23. frt publi- [first 271–273. 60: Journal oftheTennessee 2 45–46. [first 465–476. 12: : 0 9 [second 103–192. 4: 9 1 7. [first 12–17. 59: Miscellaneous 4 1–50. 64: Hofmeisteria Smithsonian Connellia, Taxon The Ohio R.M. Enlinia 25: 19: 22:

Copyright (c) American Society for Plant Taxonomists. All rights reserved. Delivered by Ingenta to IP: 192.168.39.211 on: Fri, 01 Oct 2021 00:29:15 Nsm G L ad . oisn . 20 20] seee. p 8 4 n in 284–342 Pp. Astereae . 2007[2006]. Robinson. H. and L. G. Nesom, Rbno, . n J Carcss . 19 e seis f of species New 1993. Cuatrecasas . J. and H. Robinson, SSEAI OAY [Volume 36 SYSTEMATIC BOTANYhimself prefers nottousetheinitial. refl Robinson” occasionallyencountered inliterature listsapparently Introduction, American I: of Part Compositae-Heliantheae, classification 190(6). 2006. subtribal H. Robinson, and Generic 1999. H. Robinson, moss the of revision taxonomic A 1991. Robinson. H. and H. Mohamed, 4 Harold’s middlenameisEdward, butauthorcitationsof“H.E. ect additionsofthe“E.”bybibliographers,becausebotanist families andgeneraofvascularplants,Vol. 8.floweringplants- Ecuador Genera A-L . Vernonieae . 284–301. (Senecioneae: Asteraceae) from Ecuador, Peru, andBolivia . Contributions toBotany families HookeriaceaeandHypopterygiaceaeinMalaya . 77(2): 1–233. Smithsonian ContributionstoBotany Flora ofEcuador 0 1–44. 80: 71: 3 Pr I: eea -. M-Z. Genera II: Part 1–230. 77(1): 9 1–116 . 89: Smithsonian Pentacalia Novon Flora of The 3:

Rbno, . n W C Hle 07. 103. Compositae-Eupatorieae. 190(3). 2007. Holmes. C. W. and H. Robinson, Rbno, . 09. A itouto t mcocaatr o Cmoia Pp. Compositae. of micro-characters to introduction An 2009. H. Robinson, Rbno, . n J J Svra . 21 eea f h Vernonieae the of Genera 2010. Skvarla. J. J. and H. Robinson, Rno, . n H Rbno 00. 2010. Robinson. H. and J. Runyon, FloraofEcuador Springer . Berlin: Kubitzki. K. 8 0 n in 89–100 . uk A Ssna T F Susy ad . . ae ina: IAPT. (Asteraceae) ofChinawithastudytheirpollen Vienna : Bayer . J. . R. and Stuessy , F. T. Susanna, A. Funk, A. flies]. Dolichopodidae (Diptera) . 254 – 272 . [anunrelenting researcher, andseeothersfrom 2010]. . oue d. J W Kdri ad . efe sre ed. series Jeffrey . C. and Kadereit W. J. eds. volume . Systematics, evolution,andbiogeographyofCompositae. 3 1–347. 83: Zootaxa Hurleyella 40 5 5. ad tl a the at still [and 57–65. 2400: , anewgenusofNearctic Taiwania es V. eds. 55:

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