Frederick Vernon Coville
| Frederick Vernon Coville | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | March 23, 1867 Preston, New York |
| Died |
January 9, 1937 (aged 69) Washington, D.C. |
| Fields | Botany, agronomy |
| Institutions | USDA |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
| Known for | Chief Botanist of USDA, Founder of the United States National Arboretum, work on blueberry |
| Notable awards | Honorary Sc.D. from The George Washington University, George Roberts White Medal |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Coville |
Frederick Vernon Coville (March 23, 1867 – January 9, 1937) was an American botanist who participated in the Death Valley Expedition (1890-1891), was honorary curator of the United States National Herbarium (1893-1937), worked at then was Chief botanist of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and was the first director of the United States National Arboretum. He made contribution to economic botany and helped shape American scientific policy of the time on plant and exploration research.
Coville was born in 1867 in Preston, New York to bank director Joseph Addison Coville and his wife Lydia. He went to Cornell University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1887. He briefly taught botany before joining the USDA and participating to the Geological Survey of Arkansas as assistant botanist in 1888. He would remain with the department until his death, succeeding to George Vasey as Chief botanist in 1893, a title accompanied with that of Honorary Curator of the National Herbarium (at the time conserved at the Smithsonian Institution, but funded by the USDA). Coville married his wife, Elizabeth Harwood Boyton, in 1890; they had five children, four of which, three sons and a daughter, survived their father. Over the course of his life, he published approximately 170 papers and books; he also contributed to botany entries of the Century Dictionary. A tall man who had enjoyed success in college sports, he was described as helpful, perceptive, clear-thinking and curious, as well as greatly enthusiastic in his outdoor expeditions.
Coville participated in the 1891 Death Valley Expedition led by C. Hart Merriam and T. S. Palmer, his resulting Botany of the Death Valley Expedition (1893) is an important work on desert plants. He traveled a lot in the Western United States and grew an interest for desert and medicinal plants, leading to his 1897-1898 Medicinal Plants Survey. Gifford Pinchot called a report of Coville's on effects of grazing on forest "the essentials of a sound and farsighted grazing policy". Coville also participated in and wrote on the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition, although he never completed his Flora of Alaska. He was involved with the establishment of the Carnegie Institution's Desert Botanical Laboratory in 1903, the USDA Seed Laboratory, and spearheaded efforts that lead to the foundation of the United States National Arboretum in 1927.
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