Palemon Howard Dorsett was an American horticulturalist employed by the USDA. Born April 21, 1862, in Carlinville, Macoupin County, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, he gained a BA

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 from the University of Missouri

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

 in 1884, and joined the USDA Section of Plant Pathology seven years later. He left the USDA in 1907 to found his own horticultural business in Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, but rejoined the Department in 1909. In 1913 Dorsett began his first foreign expedition, to Brazil, with Archibald Dixon Shamel and Wilson Popenoe

Wilson Popenoe

Wilson Popenoe son of Fred O. Popenoe and brother of Paul Popenoe, was a United States Department of Agriculture employee and plant explorer. From 1916 to 1924 Popenoe explored Latin America to look for new strains of avocados. He reported his adventures to the National Geographic...

. Later expeditions took him to Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, Manchuria

Manchuria

Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...

, Ceylon (Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

), culminating in 1928 in the Dorsett-Morse Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, and China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. Returning to the USA in 1932, he retired from the USDA, but joined the Allison Vincent Armour agricultural expedition to the British West Indies

British West Indies

The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...

 and Guianas the same year. In 1936 he was awarded the 13th Frank N. Meyer Medal by the Council of the American Genetic Association

American Genetic Association

The American Genetic Association , formerly the American Breeders' Association, founded 1903, is a USA-based learned society dedicated to the study of genetics. It publishes the Journal of Heredity-History:...

 for "distinguished actions related to the collection, preservation, or utilization of germplasm resources".

Dorsett died in a Washington, D. C. nursing home on April 1, 1943. In contrast to his illustrious career, his private life had been blighted by the premature deaths of his wife Mary Virginia (née Payne) and two of his daughters. His only son, James, with whom he travelled to China in 1924-25, died in 1927. http://riley.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=8&tax_level=4&tax_subject=158&topic_id=1982&level3_id=6419&level4_id=10866&level5_id=0&placement_default=0

Publications

• (1898) The selection of violets.
• (1899) The use of hydrocyanic acid gas for fumigating greenhouses and cold frames (co-author A. F. Woods, revised 1903 and 1908)
• (1900). Spot Disease of the Violet. USDA Bulletin, No. 23.
• (1913). Experiments in Bulb Growing at the United States Bulb Garden at Bellingham. USDA Bulletin No. 28.
• (1917). The Navel Orange of Bahia with Notes on some little known Brazilian Fruits. USDA Bulletin, No 445. (co-authors Shamel, A. D. and Popenoe, W.)
• (1917). The Plant Introduction Gardens of the Dept. of Agriculture. Yearbook of Agriculture 1916.
• (1928). Culture and Outdoor Winter Storage of Persimmons in the Vicinity of Peking, China. USDA Circular. No. 49. (co-author James Dorsett).