George Everett Osterhout

{{short description|Botanist (1858-1937)}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | name = George Everett Osterhout | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = George osterhout.jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date |1858|03|31}} | birth_place = Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania | death_date = {{death date and age|1937|04|02|1858|03|31}} | death_place = Windsor, Colorado | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | pronounce = | residence = | citizenship = United States | nationality = | fields = Botany | workplaces = | patrons = | education = | alma_mater = Lafayette College | thesis_title =  | thesis_url =  | thesis_year =  | doctoral_advisor =  | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = Field botany, plant taxonomy | influences = | influenced = | awards = | author_abbrev_bot = Osterh. | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse = Etta Thomas | partner =  | children = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = }}

'''George Everett Osterhout''' (March 31, 1858 – April 2, 1937) was an American businessman and botanist. A Pennsylvania native, he later moved to Colorado and became known for his research into the flora of the Rocky Mountains. {{botanist|Osterh.|inline=yes}}

==Early life and education== Born in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, he later went to Easton, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Lafayette College. After graduation he undertook studies in the law, and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar.

==Career== In 1885, at age 27, he moved to Windsor, Colorado, either in search of better health, wrote Aven Nelson,<ref name="nel37">{{cite journal |last1=Nelson |first1=Aven |title=George E. Osterhout |journal=Science |date=1937 |volume=86 |issue=2242 |pages=553–554 |doi=10.1126/science.86.2242.553|bibcode=1937Sci....86..553N }}</ref> or to pursue a strong desire to study Rocky Mountain plants, inspired by one of his college professors, according to Roger Lawrence Williams.<ref name="will87">{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Roger L. |title=On the Mountain Top with Mr. Osterhout |journal=Brittonia |date=1987 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=149–158 |doi=10.1007/bf02914260|s2cid=84587367 }}</ref> He established a lumber business in Windsor, and resided there for the rest of his life, "where he was known as a successful business man, a kindly neighbor, a philanthropic Christian, a scientist of more than local renown."<ref name="nel37"/> His strong avocation, collecting native plants of the Rocky Mountain region, began in 1893.<ref name="will87"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ewan |first1=Joseph |title=Rocky Mountain Naturalists |date=1950 |publisher=University of Denver Press |location=Colorado |page=275}}</ref> He consulted with professional botanists, especially Aven Nelson of the University of Wyoming, and Per Axel Rydberg.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Roger L. |title=Aven Nelson of Wyoming |date=1984 |publisher=Colorado Associated University Press |location=Boulder |isbn=0-87081-147-9 |ref=wm-nels}}</ref>

His personal herbarium grew to over 20,000 specimen sheets. Of these, 8,330 were of his own collections, and described by Roger Lawrence Williams as "testimony to leisure time arduously spent."<ref name="will03">{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Roger L. |title=A Region of Astonishing Beauty |date=2003 |publisher=Roberts Rinehart |location=Maryland |isbn=1-57098-397-6 |pages=160–162}}</ref> The others Osterhout acquired via trading or purchase. Upon his death, all of his sheets were bequeathed to the Rocky Mountain Herbarium.<ref name="will03"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uwyo.edu/botany/rocky-mountain-herbarium/ |website= |title=Rocky Mountain Herbarium}}</ref>

According to IPNI,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipni.org/ipni/authorsearchpage.do |title=International Plant Names Index}}</ref> his botanical author abbreviation, '''Osterh.''', is associated with 237 plant names or historical variations theron. His nomenclatural efforts appear within his 44 publications, as listed by Roger Williams,<ref name="will87"/> which also includes two essays on Rocky Mountain botanizing, one a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first major botanical exploration of the Rocky Mountains in 1820 (as described in an account by Edwin James).

== Plants named in Osterhout's honor ==

thumb|Osterhout's milk-vetch, ''Astragalus osterhoutii''

According to ITIS <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.itis.gov/index.html |website= |title=Integrated Taxonomic Information System}}</ref> ({{as of|June 2018|lc=yes}}) these five plants are named in honor of George E. Osterhout:

*''Astragalus osterhoutii'' M.E. Jones – Osterhout's milk-vetch *''Cirsium clavatum'' var. ''osterhoutii'' (Rydb.) D.J. Keil – Osterhout's thistle *''Cryptantha osterhoutii'' (Payson) Payson – Osterhout's catseye *''Penstemon osterhoutii'' Pennell – Osterhout's beardtongue *''Physaria floribunda'' ssp. ''osterhoutii'' (Payson) O'Kane – pointtip twinpod

== References == {{reflist}}

{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Osterhout, George Everett}} Category:19th-century American botanists Category:20th-century American botanists Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:Pennsylvania lawyers Category:1858 births Category:1937 deaths Category:People from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania Category:People from Windsor, Colorado Category:Lafayette College alumni