Harold E. Robinson

{{short description|American botanist and entomologist (1932–2020)}} {{more sources|date=December 2018}}

{{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | name = Harold E Robinson | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image =  | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|05|22}} | birth_place = Syracuse, New York, U.S. | death_date ={{death date and age|2020|12|17|1932|05|22}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | siglum = | pronounce = | fields = Botany; Entomology | workplaces = Smithsonian Institution | patrons = | education = Ohio University ;University of Tennessee; | alma_mater = Duke University | thesis_title =  | thesis_url =  | thesis_year =  | doctoral_advisor =  | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Asa Gray Award | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | parents = | father = | mother = | relatives = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = }}

'''Harold Ernest Robinson''' (May 22, 1932 – December 17, 2020)<ref>{{cite web | url = http://botany.si.edu/pubs/plantpress/vol6no3.pdf | work = The Plant Press | date = July–September 2003 | title = Botany Profile: A Colossus of the Compositae | author = Robert DeFilipps | publisher = Department of Systematic Biology - Botany & the U.S. National Herbarium, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History | access-date = 2010-04-08 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130823062720/http://botany.si.edu/pubs/plantpress/vol6no3.pdf | archive-date = 2013-08-23 | url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en-gb.facebook.com/fna.org/posts/2791243461125691 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/1391397481110303/2791243461125691 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|title=We are sad to report that Harold...|date=2020-12-18|website=Facebook|publisher=Flora of North America Association}}{{cbignore}}</ref> was an American botanist and entomologist.

==Career== Robinson's specialty was the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and the bryophytes. He has named or described over 2,800 new species and subtribes, more than one tenth of the number of species in the Asteraceae. This figure is also about one quarter of the number of flowering plants described by Carl Linnaeus.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

Robinson wrote over 650 publications, mainly on the Asteraceae, mosses (Bryophyta), Marchantiophyta, and the long-legged fly family Dolichopodidae (describing over 200 new species and 6 new genera, such as ''Harmstonia'' and ''Nanomyina'') and many other subjects.

He received a B.S. from Ohio University in 1955, an M.S. from the University of Tennessee in 1957, a Ph.D. from Duke University in 1960.

From 1960 to 1962 as assistant professor at Wofford College (Spartanburg, South Carolina), he became Associate Curator of lower plants at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington (1960–1962). Later he was appointed Associate Curator (1964–1971) and finally Curator of Botany from 1971.

==Research== Robinson, together with collaborators, investigated the taxonomy of several bryophytes, green algae (co-naming a new genus ''Struveopsis''), and vines of family Hippocrateaceae (now a synonym of the staff vine family Celastraceae). He made a study of the phylogeny of the genus ''Houstonia'' of the madder family.

Robinson's major interest went to the sunflower family (Asteraceae). In the neotropical tribe Eupatorieae, Robinson (with co-worker King) has named at least one species in 27 of the genera. He later worked on the reorganization of the tribes Senecioneae, Heliantheae, Liabeae, and Vernonieae. Robinson has made a detailed study of the many secondary metabolite chemicals found in the Eupatorieae tribe, such as alkaloids, (poly)acetylenes, and terpenoids (see ''Ichthyothere''), together with {{ill|Robert Merrill King|es}} and Ferdinand Bohlmann. This resulted in a large number of publications mostly in the journal ''Phytochemistry'' in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1970 Robinson and King stressed the need for diagnostic character analysis in his classic article entitled ''The New Synantherology''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=King |first1=R. M. |last2=Robinson |first2=H. |title=The New Synantherology |journal=Taxon |date=1970 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=6–11 |doi=10.2307/1217907 |jstor=1217907 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1217907 |issn=0040-0262|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1974 Robinson named a new subtribe Luziolinae of oryzoid (= rice-like) grasses Poaceae, but this was not supported by molecular study.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duvall |first1=Melvin R. |last2=Peterson |first2=Paul M. |last3=Terrell |first3=Edward E. |last4=Christensen |first4=Alan H. |title=Phylogeny of North American Oryzoid Grasses as Construed from Maps of Plastid DNA Restriction Sites |journal=American Journal of Botany |date=1993 |volume=80 |issue=1 |pages=83–88 |doi=10.2307/2445123 |jstor=2445123 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2445123 |access-date=25 December 2020 |issn=0002-9122|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Robinson also named the small genus ''Synanthes'' of epiphytic orchids from Paraguay, as well as named 32 new species from the bromeliad family. These were mostly in the genera ''Navia'' and ''Lindmania'', ''Connellia'', and ''Cottendorfia'', such as ''Navia albiflora'' and ''Navia aliciae''. In 1999 he merged ''Pepinia'' into ''Pitcairnia'' at generic level.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=Harold |last2=Robinson |first2=H. E. |last3=Taylor |first3=David C. |title=The Status of the Pitcairnioid Genera of the Bromeiliaceae |journal=Harvard Papers in Botany |date=1999 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=195–202 |jstor=41761300 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41761300 |access-date=25 December 2020 |issn=1043-4534}}</ref> He made several illustrations for the ''Catalog of Botanical Illustrations'', Smithsonian Institution, such as for ''Brewcaria duidensis''.

In 1986 Robinson gave a critical but constructive opinion on cladistics in the article. "A Key to the Common Errors of Cladistics".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=Harold |title=A Key to the Common Errors of Cladistics |journal=Taxon |date=1986 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=309–311 |doi=10.2307/1221274 |jstor=1221274 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1221274 |access-date=25 December 2020 |issn=0040-0262|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Awards and legacy== In 2010, Robinson received the Asa Gray Award, the highest honour of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Guy L.|last1=Nesom|first2=John F.|last2=Pruski|year=2011|title=Harold Robinson—Recipient of the 2010 Asa Gray Award|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1600/036364411X553063|journal=Systematic Botany|volume=36|issue=1|pages=1–4|jstor=23028943|doi=10.1600/036364411x553063|s2cid=86717156|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 1996, the plant genus ''Robinsonecio'' (in the family Asteraceae) from Mexico and Guatemala,<ref>{{cite web |title=''Robinsonecio'' T.M.Barkley & Janovec {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:993888-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=23 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref> and then ''Haroldia'', which is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae, was published in 2009,<ref>{{cite web |title=Haroldia Bonif. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77102433-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=14 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref> were both named in his honour.<ref>{{cite book | last=Burkhardt | first=Lotte | title=Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen |trans-title=Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names | publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin | year=2022 | isbn=978-3-946292-41-8 | url=https://doi.org/10.3372/epolist2022|format=pdf |language=German |location=Berlin | doi=10.3372/epolist2022 |access-date=January 27, 2022}}</ref>

== Selected works == * Rhyne, C. and H. Robinson. 1968. ''Struveopsis'', a new genus of green algae. Phytologia 17:467-472 * Robinson, H. 1969, A Monograph of Foliar Anatomy of the Genera ''Connellia'', ''Cottendorfia'' and ''Navia'' (Bromeliaceae). Washington.. * King, R. M., & H. Robinson. 1970. The new synantherology. Taxon 19:6-11. * King, R. M., and H. Robinson. 1970 : ''Eupatorium'', a composite genus of Arcto-Tertiary distribution. Taxon 19: 769–774. * King, R. M., and H. Robinson 1970 : Studies in the Eupatorieae (Compositae). XXV. A new genus ''Eupatoriadelphus''. Phytologia 19: 431–432. * King, R. M., & H. Robinson. 1970. New combinations in ''Ageratina''. Phytologia 19:208-229. * Reed, C. F. and H. Robinson. 1971. Bryophytes of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Phytologia 21: 6-21. * Terrell E. E., H. Robinson, 1974 Luziolinae, a new subtribe of oryzoid grasses. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 101: 235-235[ISI] * King, R. M. & H. Robinson. 1975.- Studies in the Eupatorieae (Asteraceae), CXXXIX. A new genus, ''Aristeguietia''. - Phytologia 30: 217–220. * Robinson H., 1978 Studies in the Heliantheae (Asteraceae). XII. Re-establishment of the genus ''Smallanthus''. Phytologia 39: 47-47 * Robinson H.,: 1978 - . Compositae-Liabeae. 1978. 63 pp. Flora of Ecuador volume 8 * Robinson H., 1980 Studies in the Heliantheae (Asteraceae). XXVI. New species of ''Ichthyothere''. Phytologia 47: 128-128 * Robinson H., 1981 A revision of the tribal and subtribal limits of the Heliantheae (Asteraceae). Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 51: 1-1 * Robinson H., A. M. Powell, R. M. King, J. F. Weedin, 1981 Chromosome numbers in Compositae. XII. Heliantheae. Smithsonian Contribributions to Botany 52: 1-1 * Bohlmann, F., Zdero, C., Grenz, M., Dhar, A.K., Robinson, H., King, R.M.. "Naturally occurring terpene derivatives .307. 5 diterpene and other constituents from 9 ''Baccharis'' species." - Phytochemistry 20 281 - 286, 1981. * Robinson H., 1983 Studies in the Heliantheae (Asteraceae). XXX. A new species of ''Ichthyothere'' from Cayenne. Phytologia 53: 388-388 * {{cite journal | last = Robinson | first = Harold Ernest | title = A generic review of the tribe Liabeae (Asteraceae) | journal =Smithsonian Contributions to Botany | issue =54 | pages =69 pages | publisher = Smithsonian Institution Press | year =1983 | url = http://www.sil.si.edu/smithsoniancontributions/Botany/scb_RecordSingle.cfm?filename=sctb-0054 | access-date = 2008-06-30}} * Terrell, E.E., W.H. Lewis, H. Robinson, and J.W. Nowicke. 1986. Phylogenetic implications of diverse seed types, chromosome numbers, and pollen morphology in ''Houstonia'' (Rubiaceae) Am. J. Bot. 73:103-115. * King, R.M. & Robinson, H. 1987. The genera of the Eupatorieae (Asteraceae). Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 22: 1–581. * Robinson, H. 1993. A review of the genus ''Critoniopsis'' in Central and South America (Vernonieae: Asteraceae) Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 106: 606–627. * Robinson, H. 1993. Three new genera of Vernonieae from South America, ''Dasyandantha'', ''Dasyanthina'', and ''Quechualia''. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 106(4): 775–785. * Robinson, H., & J. Cuatrecasas. 1993. New species of ''Pentacalia'' (Senecioneae: Asteraceae) from Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Novon 3(3): 284–301. * Robinson, H. 1994. ''Cololobus'', ''Pseudopiptocarpha'', and ''Trepadonia'', three new genera from South America (Vernonieae: Asteraceae). Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 107(3): 557–568. * Robinson, H. 1994. New combination in American Vernonieae (Asteraceae). Phytologia 76: 27–29. * Robinson, H. 1995. New combinations and new species in American Vernonieae (Asteraceae). Phytologia 78(5): 384–399. * Robinson, H. 1995. Two new species of ''Ichthyothere'' (Heliantheae: Asteraceae) from Ecuador and Peru. Sida 16(4): 731–736. *Robinson, H. & V. Funk. 1995. Compositae of Ecuador I: Key to frequently collected genera. In: R. Valencia & H. Balslev (eds.) Estudios sobre diversidad y ecología de plantas, p. 65-75. PUCE, Quito. * Robinson, H. 1997. New species of ''Aphanactis'' in Ecuador and Bolivia and new combinations in ''Selloa'' (Heliantheae: Asteraceae). Brittonia 49(1): 71–78. * Robinson, H. 1997. New species of ''Aphanactis'', ''Calea'', ''Clibadium'' and ''Tridax'' (Heliantheae, Asteraceae) from Ecuador and Peru. Phytologia 82(1): 58–62. * Robinson, H. 1997. New species of ''Archibaccharis'' and ''Baccharis'' from Bolivia and Peru (Asteraceae: Astereae). Biollania, Edición Esp. No. 6: 501–508. * Robinson, H. 1997. New species of ''Ayapanopsis'' and ''Hebeclinum'' from South America (Asteraceae: Eupatorieae). Biollania, Edición Esp. No. 6: 509–514. * Robinson, H. 1999[?]. New species and new combinations of Neotropical Eupatorieae (Asteraceae). Phytologia 84: 347–353. * Robinson, H. 1999. Generic and subtribal classification of American Vernonieae. Smithson. Contributions Bot. 89: 1–116.

{{botanist|H.Rob.|Robinson, Harold E.}} ==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Harold E.}} Category:1932 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Duke University alumni Category:American phycologists Category:21st-century American botanists Category:Botanists with author abbreviations Category:American bryologists Category:American entomologists Category:Scientists from Syracuse, New York Category:Ohio University alumni Category:University of Tennessee alumni Category:Wofford College faculty