Merrill, Elmer D. (Elmer Drew), 1876-1956

Elmer Drew Merrill was born in East Auburn, Maine in 1876 and died in 1956. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Maine in 1898 and his master's in 1904. In 1902 he went to the Philippines where he remained for 21 years as professor of botany at the University of the Philippines and director of the Bureau of Science at Manila. He was a director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard and administrator of the botanical collections there. Before coming to Harvard in 1935 he served as director of the New York Botanical Garden. He was the author of more than 500 technical papers on the botany of North America and the Far East.

Merrill (Univ. of Maine, S.B. 1898; Univ. of California, LL. D., 1936) directed New York Botanical Garden, 1931-1935; and Arnold Arboretum, 1937-1946.

Elmer Drew Merrill (1876-1956) was the foremost contributor to the taxonomy of plants of the Far East, the inventor of the Merrill Case for transporting & storing field specimens and an innovative administrator. He was Director of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) from 1929-1935. He was born in East Auburn, Me., and graduated from the University of Maine in 1899. That year he joined the U.S.D.A. as an agrostologist. At the end of the Spanish-American War, Merrill was named botanist at the Insular Bureau of Agriculture, established by the United States Philippines Commission in Manila. Between 1902 and 1923, Merrill established an herbarium, a library and had collected and identified over 14,000 native plants. Merrill coined the word "Malaysia" to include the flora of Southern China, Borneo and Guam. Following his work in the Philippines, Merrill was named Dean of the California College of Agriculture. He joined the NYBG in 1929. In 1935 Merrill became "Administrator of Botanical Collections" at Harvard University, a post he held as Arnold Professor of Botany. He described over 3000 new species from the Far East. His commentaries on Blanco, Rumphius and Loureiro are landmarks. He was President of the Botanical Society of America in 1934 and President of the Section of Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the Sixth International Botanical Congress in 1936. He was responsible for the dissemination of Metasequoia glyptostroboides throughout the United States and Europe. He was called the American Linnaeus. He died in Forest Hills, Mass., in 1956.

Elmer Drew Merrill (1876-1956) was the foremost contributor to the taxonomy of plants of the Far East, the inventor of the Merrill Case for transporting & storing field specimens and an innovative administrator. He was Director of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) from 1929-1935. He was born in East Auburn, Me. and graduated from the University of Maine in 1899. That year he joined the U.S.D.A. as an agrostologist. At the end of the Spanish-American War, Merrill was named botanist at the Insular Bureau of Agriculture, established by the United States Philippines Commission in Manila. Between 1902 and 1923, Merrill established an herbarium, a library and had collected and identified over 14,000 native plants. Merrill coined the word "Malaysia" to include the flora of Southern China, Borneo and Guam. Following his work in the Philippines, Merrill was named Dean of the California College of Agriculture. He joined the NYBG in 1929. In 1935 Merrill became "Administrator of Botanical Collections" at Harvard University, a post he held as Arnold Professor of Botany. He described over 3000 new species from the Far East. His commentaries on Blanco, Rumphius and Loureiro are landmarks. He was President of the Botanical Society of America in 1934 and President of the Section of Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the Sixth International Botanical Congress in 1936. He was responsible for the dissemination of the Metasequoia glyptostrobiodes. He was called the American Linnaeus. He died in Forest Hills, Mass. in 1956.

Elmer Drew Merrill (1876-1956) was Director of the Arnold Arboretum from 1935 to 1946. He successfully held leadership positions at the University of the Philippines, University of California, and the New York Botanic Garden before coming to Harvard. A productive scientist, Dr. Merrill specialized in the flora of Asia and the Pacific Islands. He published nearly 500 papers and books, and was responsible for adding hundreds of thousands of mounted specimens to research collections. Merrill compiled a handbook: Emergency food plants and poisonous plants of the Islands of the Pacific, which was used as the basis for survival manuals issued to World War II military personnel. His funded field work programs led to locating the Metasequoia glyptostroboides or Dawn redwood tree, which was proviously thought to be extinct.

Elmer Drew Merrill (1876-1956) was the foremost contributor to the taxonomy of plants of the Far East, the inventor of the Merrill Case for transporting & storing field specimens and an innovative administrator. He was Director of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) from 1929-1935. He was born in East Auburn, Me. and graduated from the University of Maine in 1899. That year he joined the U.S.D.A. as an agrostologist. At the end of the Spanish-American War, Merrill was named botanist at the Insular Bureau of Agriculture, established by the United States Philippines Commission in Manila. Between 1902 and 1923, Merrill established an herbarium, a library and had collected and identified over 14,000 native plants. Merrill coined the word "Malaysia" to include the flora of Southern China, Borneo and Guam.

Following his work in the Philippines, Merrill was named Dean of the California College of Agriculture. He joined the NYBG in 1929. In 1935 Merrill became Administrator of Botanical Collections at Harvard University, a post he held as Arnold Professor of Botany. He described over 3000 new species from the Far East. His commentaries on Blanco, Rumphius and Loureiro are landmarks. He was President of the Botanical Society of America in 1934 and President of the Section of Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the Sixth International Botanical Congress in 1936. He was responsible for the dissemination of the Metasequoia glyptostrobiodes. He was called the American Linnaeus. He died in Forest Hills, Mass. in 1956.

Elmer Drew Merrill (1876-1956) was the foremost contributor to the taxonomy of plants of the Far East, the inventor of the Merrill Case for transporting & storing field specimens and an innovative administrator. He was Director of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) from 1929-1935. He was born in East Auburn, Me., and graduated from the University of Maine in 1899. That year he joined the U.S.D.A. as an agrostologist. At the end of the Spanish-American War, Merrill was named botanist at the Insular Bureau of Agriculture, established by the United States Philippines Commission in Manila. Between 1902 and 1923, Merrill established an herbarium, a library and had collected and identified over 14,000 native plants. Merrill coined the word "Malaysia" to include the flora of Southern China, Borneo and Guam.

Following his work in the Philippines, Merrill was named Dean of the California College of Agriculture. He joined the NYBG in 1929. In 1935 Merrill became "Administrator of Botanical Collections" at Harvard University, a post he held as Arnold Professor of Botany. He described over 3000 new species from the Far East. His commentaries on Blanco, Rumphius and Loureiro are landmarks. He was President of the Botanical Society of America in 1934 and President of the Section of Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the Sixth International Botanical Congress in 1936. He was responsible for the dissemination of Metasequoia glyptostroboides throughout the United States and Europe. He was called the American Linnaeus. He died in Forest Hills, Mass., in 1956.