Page 102 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range

sometimes to the point of being ludicrous, and yet to many of us who knew him well he was always a delight and an inspiration. He was fond of music and cards, was a charming host, and a welcome guest in many homes. He lived a quiet life, usually alone with his pets, often doing his own cooking and house- work.” (Botanical Gazette, January 1916, J. N. Rose, p. 71)
Among his many works is Illustrations of West American Oaks, from 1889. Greene wrote the text for his work and Albert Kellogg made the drawings. One of Kellogg’s drawings, of a Gambel Oak, is shown on the following page, followed by a photograph of the species from the Black Range.
Edward Lee Greene and O. B. Metcalfe
In 1894, Greene left the University of California, taking a position at the Catholic University in Washington, D. C.. In 1904 he left the Catholic University and began work at the Smithsonian. In 1915 he took a position at Notre Dame and died later that year.
During this period in the East he became one of those “closet” botanists making species determinations from specimens collected by others.
His close association with the Black Range did not end with his last collecting trip to the Silver City area and the Black Range. For example, from at least 1903 to 1905 specimens collected by O. B. Metcalfe (see entry later in this book) were sent to Greene for species determinations. A number of these specimens are identified as type specimens (isotype, type, etc.) for the species. Metcalfe’s efforts were recognized by Greene, who included Metcalfe’s name in the latin binomial when he first described some of the species.
Greene determined the species for specimens collected by Metcalfe throughout the area. For instance, all of the specimens shown here and on the following pages were collected by Metcalfe, at or near Kingston, with original species determinations made by Greene. They include: Chenopodium graveolens, Fetid Goosefoot; Acer negundo var interior, Interior Boxelder; and Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac.
In the southern part of the Black Range, the type specimens of Ipomopsis aggregata subsp. formosissima, Skyrocket;
Grindelia arizonica var. dentata, Arizona Gumweed, collected by O. B. Metcalfe on September 19, 1903 near Silver City. Species determination (as Grindelia squarrosa) by E. L. Greene.
101