Julian Alfred Steyermark (1909 – 1988)
Steyermark studied at the Henry Shaw School of Botany at Washington University in St. Louis, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1933. His distinguished career included the Field Museum of Chicago, the Instituto Botánico of Caracas, and he was with the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis from 1984 until his death. Steyermark's major works were his Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, Flora of Missouri, and Flora of Guatemala.
During his life, Steyermark collected over 130,000 plants in twenty-six countries, which earned him an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. He made the initial descriptions of 2,392 taxa of plants, including one family, 38 genera, and 1,864 species.
Steyermark's contribution to our knowledge of Carnivorous plants is centred on the species of the tepius, particularly Heliamphora and Drosera, and our understanding of these unique habitats.
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter articles with a discussion of Steyermark's work:
Michal R. Golos and Joachim Nerz and François Sockhom Mey and Andreas Wistuba. 2024. Heliamphora electrum (Sarraceniaceae), an enigmatic species of marsh pitcher plant from the Sierra de Lema of Venezuela. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 53(1):4-51. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn531.mg102
Nerz, Joachim and Andreas Wistuba. 2006. Heliamphora exappendiculata, a clearly distinct species with unique characteristics. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 35(2):43-48. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn352.jn909
Nerz, Joachim. 2004. Heliamphora elongata (Sarraceniaceae), a new species from Ilu Tepui. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 33(4):111-116. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn334.jn148
Mazrimas, J.A. 1987. Special Literature Report: Steyermark, J.A., 'Realignment of the Genus Heliamophora' from Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard., 77: 302-312 (1984). Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 16(1):12. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn161.jm139
For more information on the life of Julian Alfred Steyermark please see Wikipedia.
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Julian Alfred Steyermark