Patricia Kern Holmgren

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Patricia Kern Holmgren
Patricia Kern Holmgren in 1971
Born1940
NationalityUSA
Alma mater
SpouseNoel H. Holmgren
Scientific career
FieldsBotany
Institutions
Doctoral advisorCharles Leo Hitchcock
Author abbrev. (botany)P.K. Holmgren

Patricia May Holmgren (née Kern; born 1940) is an American botanist. Holmgren's main botanical interests are the flora of the U.S. intermountain west and the genera Tiarella and Thlaspi. Holmgren was the director of the herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden from 1981–2000, and editor of Index Herbariorum from 1974–2008.[1]

Life[edit]

Patricia May Kern was born to Robert Evan Kern (1919–2004) and Ruth Eleanor Beaudoin Kern (1921–1992) in 1940, in Athens, Indiana.[2] Her parents began raising Christmas trees in 1946, and Holmgren spent part of her summers trimming trees and weekends in the fall and winter helping with the business.[1] Holmgren was introduced to nature at an early age; through her father's conservation work on their property, and during family vacations to western national parks during the farm's off-season. From fifth grade to her high school graduation, Holmgren was active in 4-H, winning many contests in forestry and sewing.[2]

Holmgren attended high school at Rochester High School in Rochester, Indiana, graduating in 1958 as valedictorian.[3] Holmgren attended Indiana University, getting a B.S. in 1962. She later attended the University of Washington, completing a M.S. in 1964 and a Ph.D. in 1968.[4] At the University of Washington, Holmgren completed a systematic study of Tiarella (Saxifragaceae) with advisor Arthur R. Kruckeberg.[2]

She remained at the University of Washington for her Ph.D., a systematic study of the Thlaspi montanum (Brassicaceae) group, with advisor C. Leo Hitchcock. In addition to her own research, Holmgren became chief editorial assistant during the preparation of the last two volumes of the Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest with Hitchcock.[2]

Patricia married fellow botanist Noel H. Holmgren (son of botanist Arthur H. Holmgren) in 1969.[1]

Career[edit]

A group photo of 5 herbarium employees, standing in front of a large pile of specimens in boxes
Patricia Holmgren (front) with fellow New York Botanical Garden herbarium staff (behind, L to R): Lois Brako, Barbara Thiers, Bill Buck, & Jim Grimes.

After completing her Ph.D. at the University of Washington, Holmgren accepted a job as herbarium specialist at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) in 1968. Holmgren spent her entire working career at NYBG, eventually becoming the Director of the Herbarium in 1981, a position she held until her retirement in 2000.[4] As director of The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, Holmgren insisted on the highest possible standards for specimen management and for keeping the herbarium in the forefront on new innovations (such as the creation of an online Index Herbariorum and development of the C.V. Starr Virtual Herbarium).[5] Holmgren was also instrumental in conception, fundraising, and design of a new, state-of-the-art building to house the herbarium, the International Plant Science Center, which officially opened for research in 2002.[1][6] Holmgren continues to work at the garden as Director Emerita of the herbarium. In addition to her herbarium leadership, Holmgren played an active role in a number of botanical societies and botanical journals:[1][4]

Patricia Holmgren and Noel Holmgren were instrumental to the completion of Intermountain Flora: Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A., a nine-volume flora on the vascular plants of the western United States between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada ranges. In addition to collecting many herbarium specimens that would provide the baseline data for descriptions and geographic distributions; Patricia was involved in editing, proofreading, and writing family treatments for the flora.[1]

Awards[edit]

Legacy[edit]

In 2009, botanists W.L.Wagner & Hoch published Neoholmgrenia is a genus of flowering plants from Canada and western USA, belonging to the family Onagraceae and named in her honour.[11]

Plant species named after Patricia Holmgren[edit]

Selected publications[edit]

  • Holmgren, P.K. & Keuken, W. (1975). Index Herbariorum Ed. 6: Geographical Arrangements of the Herbaria Listed in Index Herbariorum, Edition Six. Taxon, 24(4), 543-551. JSTOR 1219533
  • Holmgren, N.H. & Holmgren, P.K. (1979). A new species of Asclepias (Asclepiadaceae) from Utah. Brittonia, 31(1): 110–114. doi:10.2307/2806683
  • Rollins, R.C. & Holmgren, P.K. (1980). A new species of Caulanthus (Cruciferae) from Nevada. Brittonia, 32(2): 148–151. doi:10.2307/2806781
  • Holmgren, P.K., Holmgren, N.H., & Barnett L.C. (1990). Index herbariorum. Part I: The herbaria of the world, Edition 8. ISBN 0-89327-358-9
  • Holmgren, P.K., & Holmgren, N. H. (1991). Index Herbariorum: Additions to Index Herbariorum, Edition 8. Taxon, 40(4), 687–692. JSTOR 1222796
  • Holmgren, P.K., Kallunki, J.A. & Thiers, B.M. (1996). A short description of the collections of The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY). Brittonia, 48(3): 285–296. doi:10.1007/BF02805288
  • Holmgren, N.H., & Holmgren, P.K. (2002). New Mentzelias (Loasaceae) from the Intermountain Region of Western United States. Systematic Botany, 27(4): 747–762. JSTOR 3093920
  • Holmgren, P.K. (2004). Lectotypifications and a new combination in western North American Cleomaceae. Brittonia, 56(2): 103–106.doi:10.1663/0007-196X(2004)056[0103:LAANCI2.0.CO;2]
  • Holmgren, N.H. & Holmgren, P.K. (2010). New combinations and lectotypifications of North American taxa in Caryophyllaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Fumariaceae, Montiaceae, Papaveraceae, and Ranunculaceae. Brittonia, 62(3): 264–266. doi:10.1007/s12228-010-9149-x

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Holmgren, Noel H. (2017). "Writing Intermountain flora: When and Who". Intermountain flora; vascular plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. Vol. 7. Published for the New York Botanical Garden by Hafner Pub. Co. pp. 97–101. ISBN 978-0-89327-546-4.
  2. ^ a b c d Tiehm, Arnold (2013). "Patricia May Kern Holmgren: The Early Years". In Buck, William R.; Naczi, Robert F. C. (eds.). Harmony and grit: papers celebrating the Holmgrens' completion of intermountain flora. Bronx, New York. pp. 35–44. ISBN 978-0893275228. OCLC 864358652.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ "Misses Kern, Van Lue Leading RHS Scholars". Rochester Sentinel. February 19, 1958.
  4. ^ a b c Curriculum Vitae, Patricia K. Holmgren (2017). Folder Patricia Kern Holmgren, NYBG Vertical File, The LuEsther T. Mertz Library, The New York Botanical Garden. October 10, 2018.
  5. ^ Thiers, Barbara M.; et al. (2013). "Digitizing The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium". In Buck, William R.; Naczi, Robert F. C. (eds.). Harmony and grit: papers celebrating the Holmgrens' completion of intermountain flora. Bronx, New York. pp. 45–58. ISBN 978-0893275228. OCLC 864358652.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Pace, Matthew C.; Tarnowsky, Nicole; Bloch, Ellen D.; Weiss, Amy; Zimmerman, Charles; Thiers, Barbara M. (April 12, 2016). "An updated description of the collections and history of The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY): 1995–2015". Brittonia. 68 (3): 317–323. doi:10.1007/s12228-016-9422-8. ISSN 0007-196X. S2CID 40405383.
  7. ^ "Distinguished Fellow of the Botanical Society of America". Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  8. ^ "The Botanical Society of America "Centennial Award"". Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  9. ^ Boom, Brian M. (March 1, 2013). "Noel H. Holmgren and Patricia K. Holmgren – Recipients of the 2012 Asa Gray Award". Systematic Botany. 38 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1600/036364413x661836. ISSN 0363-6445. S2CID 84743781.
  10. ^ "Gold Medal Recipients". Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  11. ^ "Neoholmgrenia W.L.Wagner & Hoch | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  12. ^ Barneby, Rupert C. (1980). "Dragma Hippomanicum V: Two New Astragali from Intermountain United States". Brittonia. 32 (1): 24–29. doi:10.2307/2806212. JSTOR 2806212. S2CID 84118361.
  13. ^ "Scrophulariaceae". Flora of Ecuador. 21: 158–159. 1984.
  14. ^ Texas, Botanical Research Institute of (2013). "Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas". Botanical Research Institute of Texas. ISSN 1934-5259.
  15. ^ Anderson, Christiane E. (2013). "Six new species of Hiraea (Malpighiaceae) from South America". Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. 108: 211–212.
  16. ^ Society., California Botanical; Society., California Botanical (2010). "Madroño;". Madroño: A West-American Journal of Botany. v.57:no.4 (2010:Oct.-Dec.). California Botanical Society. ISSN 0024-9637.
  17. ^ Chuang, T. I.; Heckard, L. R. (1992). "A Taxonomic Revision of Orthocarpus (Scrophulariaceae-Tribe Pediculareae)". Systematic Botany. 17 (4): 560–582. doi:10.2307/2419727. JSTOR 2419727.
  18. ^ Cronquist, Arthur (1981). "A New Species of Scutellaria (Lamiaceae) from California". Brittonia. 33 (3): 449–450. doi:10.2307/2806435. JSTOR 2806435. S2CID 84928102.
  19. ^ International Plant Names Index.  P.K.Holmgren.

External links[edit]