LeRoy Abrams

LeRoy Abrams (October 1, 1874 – August 15, 1956) was an American botanist, naturalist, and author.[1][2] He taught as a Professor at Stanford University.[2] He wrote his first book, Flora of Los Angeles and Vicinity which occurred in 3 editions (1904, 1911, 1917), all written while at Stanford University. He edited and wrote most of the three volumes of the four-volume Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States, with the final fourth volume edited posthumously by Roxanna Ferris.[2]. He asked additional botanists, including his graduate students to assist him in writing portions of the 3 volumes of this Flora. For example, Ira Wiggins and Carl Wolf wrote the Cactus Family section, which included the large opuntiad genus (prickly pear tunas and chollas).

Professor

LeRoy Abrams
BornOctober 1, 1874
DiedAugust 15, 1956 (1956-08-16) (aged 81)
OccupationBotanist
EmployerStanford University

Life

Abrams was born in Sheffield, Iowa on October 1, 1874.[3] However, his youth, including his teen years, were lived in southern California, where he learned the natural history, flora and fauna, especially in San Diego and later in Los Angeles, and where he briefly attended USC as an undergraduate freshman student. He graduated from Stanford University in 1899, pursuing postgraduate studies there, until 1904, resulting in writing his first book, A Flora of Los Angeles and Vicinity, and Masters Degree. Five years later, Abrams completed a PhD in New York at Columbia University in 1910, which also focused the same geographic region of Los Angeles and southern California as his earlier Flora, but this time, he focused on investigating the phytogeography (biogeography) of trees and shrubs. He became assistant professor of botany at Stanford in 1906, and became full professor in 1920.[3] He was also curator of the Dudley Herbarium.[3]

He and his wife had a home overlooking the Santa Clara Valley.[2] Their only child, a daughter, predeceased him.[2]

The standard author abbreviation Abrams is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[4]

Abrams is commemorated in the specific epithet abramsii.[5]

Bibliography
  • Additions to the Flora of Los Angeles County I. 1902.
  • Additions to the Flora of Los Angeles County II. 1903.
  • Flora of Los Angeles and Vicinity. 1904, 1911, 1917. Check date values in: |year= (help)
  • Phytogeography of Trees and Shrubs of Southern California. 1908.
  • The Gymnosperms Growing On the Grounds of Leland Stanford Jr. University (PDF). 1913.
  • Cypress Trees in Southern California. 1914.
  • The Floral Features of California. 1915.
  • Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States. 1. Stanford University Press. 1923.
  • Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States. 2. 1944.
  • Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States. 3. 1951.
  • Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States. 4. 1960.

References
  1. "LeRoy Abrams". Harvard University Herbaria – Index of Botanists. Harvard University. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  2. Wilson, Albert (October 1956). "Wilson, Albert, 1903– Papers, ca. 1910–1995, Special Collections & University Archives M1397". Journal of the California Horticultural Society. XVII.
  3. "Abram, Leroy". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1 (14 ed.). 1930. p. 61.
  4. IPNI.  Abrams.
  5. Eggli, U.; Newton, L.E. (2004). Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 1. ISBN 978-3-540-00489-9. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
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