Rose, J. N. (Joseph Nelson), 1862-1928

Joseph Nelson Rose (1862-1928), botanist, was born on a farm near Liberty, Indiana, on January 11, 1862. In 1881, he entered Wabash College, graduating with an A.B. in 1885. Rose stayed on at Wabash College as its first post-graduate student. In 1888 he came to Washington, D.C., as assistant botanist in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). When the National Herbarium reorganized in 1896 and was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution, he became assistant curator, and later associate curator. Rose made extensive botanical explorations in the American tropics and in the Andes, primarily studying the cactus family. He was the author of a large number of papers on systematic botany. His principle publications dealt with the Apiaceae and several groups of succulents. Rose died on May 4, 1928.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_18_pid_EACP17