Harold Ernest Robinson is an eminent botanist and an entomologist.

Career

Dr. Robinson's systematic knowledge encompasses many groups of plants and even some insects. But his real specialty is the sunflower family (Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

) and the bryophyte

Bryophyte

Bryophyte is a traditional name used to refer to all embryophytes that do not have true vascular tissue and are therefore called 'non-vascular plants'. Some bryophytes do have specialized tissues for the transport of water; however since these do not contain lignin, they are not considered to be...

s. He has named or described over 2,800 new species and subtribes, that is 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 Linnaeus

Carolus Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...

. Few taxonomists have ever done better.

He has written over 650 publications, mainly on the Asteraceae, moss

Moss

Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...

es (Bryophyta), Marchantiophyta

Marchantiophyta

The Marchantiophyta are a division of bryophyte plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like other bryophytes, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information....

, and the long-legged fly family Dolichopodidae

Dolichopodidae

Dolichopodidae, the long-legged flies, make up a large family of true flies with more than 7,000 described species in about 230 genera distributed worldwide. The genus Dolichopus is the most speciose, with some 600 species. They are generally small flies with large, prominent eyes and a metallic...

 (describing over 200 new species and 6 new genera, such as Harmstonia

Harmstonia

Harmstonia is a genus of fly in the family Dolichopodidae.-References:**...

and Nanomyina

Nanomyina

Nanomyina is a genus of fly in the family Dolichopodidae.-References:**...

) and many other subjects.

He received a B.S. from Ohio University

Ohio University

Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...

 in 1955, an M.S. from the University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

 in 1957, a Ph.D. from Duke University

Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

 in 1960.

After a short stint (from 1960 to 1962) as assistant professor at Wofford College

Wofford College

Established in 1854 and related to the United Methodist Church, Wofford College is an independent, Phi Beta Kappa liberal arts college of 1,525 students located in downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. The historic campus is recognized as a national arboretum and features “The...

 (Spartanburg, South Carolina

Spartanburg, South Carolina

thgSpartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina, and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, and about northeast of...

), he became Associate Curator of lower plants at the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

, Washington (1960-1962). Later he was appointed Associate Curator (1964-1971) and finally Curator of Botany from 1971.

Research

Together with collaborators, he investigated the taxonomy of several bryophytes, green algae (co-naming a new genus Struveopsis

Struveopsis

In taxonomy, Struveopsis is a genus of algae, specifically of the Siphonocladaceae.-Scientific databases:* * *...

), vine

Vine

A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...

s of family Hippocrateaceae (nom. cons.) (now a synonym of the staff vine family Celastraceae

Celastraceae

The Celastraceae , is a family of about 90-100 genera and 1,300 species of vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales...

).

He made a study of the phylogeny of the genus Houstonia

Houstonia (genus)

Houstonia is a genus of plants in the Rubiaceae family. Many species were formerly placed in a more inclusive Hedyotis....

, madder family (Rubiaceae

Rubiaceae

The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...

).

In 1974 he named a new subtribe Luziolinae of oryzoid (= rice-like) grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

es Poaceae

Poaceae

The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...

, but this was not supported by a recent molecular study (Duvall et al., 1993).

He named the small genus Synanthes

Synanthes

Synanthes is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....

(P.Burns-Balogh, H.Rob. & Mercedes S.Foster) of epiphytic

Epiphyte

An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...

 orchids from Paraguay.

He also named 32 new species from the bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae

Bromeliaceae

Bromeliaceae is a family of monocot flowering plants of around 3,170 species native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana...

), mostly in the genera Navia

Navia (bromeliad)

Navia is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Pitcairnioideae. Described as early as 1830 in Guyana, they are commonly cultivated for their colorful foliage and inflorescence.-Species:* Navia abysmophila L.B. Smith...

and Lindmania

Lindmania

Lindmania is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Pitcairnioideae. The genus name is for Carl Axel Magnus Lindman, Swedish botanist .-Species:* Lindmania arachnoidea L.B. Smith...

, Connellia

Connellia

Connellia is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Pitcairnioideae. The genus name is for Frederick Vavasour McConnell, English ornithologist and biologist .-Species:* Connellia augustae N.E. Brown...

, and Cottendorfia

Cottendorfia

Cottendorfia is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Pitcairnioideae. The genus name is for Johann Georg Freiherr Cotta von Cottendorf, German patron of the sciences .-Links:* photos...

, such as Navia albiflora L.B.Smith, Steyermark & Robinson and Navia aliciae L.B.Smith, Steyermark & Robinson. In 1999 he merged Pepinia

Pepinia

Pepinia is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Pitcairnioideae. The genus name is for Pierre Denis Pépin, French member of the Imperial and Central Society of Agriculture . This genus has been merged with Pitcairnia by some taxonomists.-Species:* Pepinia agavifolia G.S...

into Pitcairnia

Pitcairnia

Pitcairnia is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Pitcairnioideae. It was named for Dr. William Pitcairn, English physician and gardener . The genus Pitcairnia ranks as the second most prolific of the bromeliad family...

at generic level. (Harvard Papers in Botany Vol. 4 no.1 195 – 202). He made several illustrations for the Catalog of Botanical Illustrations, Smithsonian Institution, such as for Brewcaria duidensis (Bromeliaceae).

But his major interest went to the sunflower family (Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

). In the neotropic

Neotropic

In biogeography, the Neotropic or Neotropical zone is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones. This ecozone includes South and Central America, the Mexican lowlands, the Caribbean islands, and southern Florida, because these regions share a large number of plant and animal groups.It is sometimes used...

al tribe Eupatorieae

Eupatorieae

Eupatorieae is a tribe of over 2000 species of plants in the aster family. Most of the species are native to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas of the Americas, but some are found elsewhere...

 (Asteraceae), 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

Senecioneae

Senecioneae is the largest tribe of the Asteraceae, or the sunflower family, comprising approximately 150 genera and 3,000 species. Almost one-third of the species in this tribe are placed in the genus Senecio...

, Heliantheae

Heliantheae

Heliantheae is the third largest tribe in the sunflower family . With some 190 genera and nearly 2500 recognized species, only the tribes Senecioneae and Astereae are larger. The name is derived from the genus Helianthus, which is Greek for sun flower. Most genera and species are found in North...

, Liabeae

Liabeae

Liabeae is a tribe of the Asteraceae native to the Neotropics....

 and lately Vernonieae

Vernonieae

Vernonieae is a tribe of about 1300 species of plants in the aster family. They are mostly found in the tropics and warmer temperate areas, both in the Americas and the Old World. They are mostly herbaceous plants or shrubs, although there is at least one tree species, Vernonia arborea.- Taxonomy...

.

The tribe Eupatorieae

Eupatorieae

Eupatorieae is a tribe of over 2000 species of plants in the aster family. Most of the species are native to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas of the Americas, but some are found elsewhere...

 is known for the many secondary metabolite

Metabolite

Metabolites are the intermediates and products of metabolism. The term metabolite is usually restricted to small molecules. A primary metabolite is directly involved in normal growth, development, and reproduction. Alcohol is an example of a primary metabolite produced in large-scale by industrial...

 chemicals such as alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

s, (poly)acetylene

Acetylene

Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...

s, and terpenoid

Terpenoid

The terpenoids , sometimes called isoprenoids, are a large and diverse class of naturally occurring organic chemicals similar to terpenes, derived from five-carbon isoprene units assembled and modified in thousands of ways. Most are multicyclic structures that differ from one another not only in...

s (see Ichthyothere

Ichthyothere

Ichthyothere is a small genus of about 25 flowering plants, found in parts of South America and Central America.The name ichthyothere literally translates as fish poison...

). Robinson has made a detailed study of these chemicals, together with R.M. King and Ferdinand Bohlmann. This resulted in a large number of publications mostly in the journal Phytochemistry

Phytochemistry (journal)

Phytochemistry is a journal covering pure and applied plant chemistry, plant biochemistry and molecular biology. It is published by Elsevier.-Indexing:Phytochemistry is indexed in:...

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 (Taxon 19: 6-11).

In 1986 he gave a critical but constructive opinion on cladistics

Cladistics

Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...

 in the article. ”A key to the common errors of cladistics”. (Taxon 35: 309-311).

The genus Robinsonecio T.M.Barkley & J.P.Janovec (Asteraceae) is named for him.

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
• 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) Amer. 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. Contr. Bot. 89: 1-116.
• 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. Contr. Bot. 89: 1-116.