Page 146 - Early Naturalists of the Black Range

Paul C. Standley
The history of naturalists in the Black Range is extensive but often forgotten. Paul C. Standley received his bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State College in 1907 and his master’s the
following year. After graduating, he spent two years there before moving on to the United States National Museum (1909-1922), where he was the Assistant Curator of the Division of Plants. He worked at the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago) from 1928 to 1950. In 1950 he retired from the Field and taught at the Zamorano Pan- American Agricultural School in Honduras until 1956. He died in Honduras on June 2, 1963.
What was he doing between 1922 and 1928? The answer lies in this article from The Deming Graphic issue
of October 24, 1921. At that time the first volume of the seminal Trees and Shrubs of Mexico had just been issued. He worked on the other volumes until the last was published in 1926.
In 1915, he and E. O. Wooton published Flora of New Mexico, the standard botanical work for our area for decades. That work was one of many he was to research/write in a long and illustrious botanical career. He was characterized by many prominent peers as one of the premier botanists of his era.
In December 1911, Wooton and Standley completed The Grasses and Grass-Like Plants of New Mexico (published the following year). The life zone map (page 8) and description of the “lower Sonoran” life zone (page 11) from the Grasses book are shown here. These two books, Flora and Grasses, are foundational works for the study of botany in New Mexico. Unfortunately, it is not the people who contribute who are remembered, it is the scoundrels.
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