Dr. Edwin Hubert Eames, M.D.
(1865-1948)
In 1948, the
personal collection of E.H. Eames was given
as a gift to the fledgling herbarium at the
University of Connecticut. At well over 100,000
specimens, the Eames collection became the cornerstone
of what would become the University's George
Safford Torrey Herbarium. Torrey himself called
Eames "the leading amateur collector in
the state."
Although a medical
doctor by profession, Eames was certainly a
botanist by vocation. In a 1901 article on New
England herbaria published in the journal Rhodora,
Eames is credited with already having accumulated
in eleven years of collecting an herbarium of
about 8500 specimens of phaenogams and vascular
cryptogams, including about 4200 species. A
generalist collector, he concentrated most notably
on Connecticut collections, especially around
the area of Bridgeport where he lived. Eames
also made important early expeditions to remote
areas of northern New England, Newfoundland,
the New Jersey Pine Barrens, and other parts
of eastern North America. He often traveled,
collected, and conferred with other regional
botanists including C.C. Godfrey, J.F. Collins,
and M.L. Fernald.
His keen eye and sense of taxonomy
led Eames to describe several new species, varieties,
and forms, many of them represented by type
specimens at the Gray Herbarium. His comprehensive
knowledge of the local flora also enabled him
to collect and note many new introductions to
Connecticut and New England, thus providing
important early dates for the arrival of many
exotic plant species in the region. Eames was
a co-founder of the Connecticut Botanical Society
and an early member of the New England Botanical
Club.
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Manager: Dr. Robert S. Capers
Director:
Dr. Don
Les
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