John Muirhead Macfarlane

John Muirhead Macfarlane ( born September 28, 1855 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, † September 16, 1943 in Lancaster) was a Scottish botanist. His botanical author abbreviation is " Macfarl. ".

Biography

John Muirhead Macfarlane was born in 1855 in Scotland Kirkcaldy Fife, the son of Peter and Isabella Macfarlane. The family belonged to the presbyters. At the University of Edinburgh, he obtained the title of Bachelor of Science degree and became a doctor of sciences. Macfarlane was married twice. His first wife was Emily Warburton Macfarlane, she died in 1927. His second wife, Lily Wells Macfarlane, who survived him and bore him four children. In 1880 he founded the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 1881, he was lecturer in botany at the Royal Veterinary College. In 1891 Macfarlane emigrated to the USA and became professor of botany at the University of Pennsylvania. 1943 died John Muirhead Macfarlane in Lancaster.

Writings (selection )

For Adolf Engler The plant kingdom Macfarlane edited the families of pitcher plants ( Nepenthaceae, 1908), the pitcher plants ( Sarraceniaceae, 1908) and the dwarf pitcher plants ( Cephalotaceae, 1911). Other works he wrote, among others, are:

• A comparison of the minute structure of plant hybrids with did of Their parents, and its bearing on biological problems. Grant, Edinburgh, 1892.
• The quantity and sources of our petroleum supplies: a review and a criticism. Noel Printing, Philadelphia 1931
• The evolution and distribution of flowering plants. Several volumes, Noel Printing, Philadelphia, 1933.

Evidence

• Zander: Dictionary of Plant Names. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart, 17th edition 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3573-6, p 961
• Ray Desmond: Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturists: including plans collectors, flower painters, and garden designers. CRC Press, 1994, ISBN 0-85066-843-3, p 451
• JT White: National cyclopedia of American biography. White, Pennsylvania in 1964.