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Distinguished author

Mary Agnes Chase
1869–1963. Standard IPNI form: Chase

Mary Agnes Chase, née Merrill, was an American botanist who worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Smithsonian Institution. She is considered one of the world's outstanding agrostologists and is known for her work on the study of grasses, and also for her work as a suffragist. Chase was born in Iroquois County, Illinois and held no formal education beyond grammar school. That aside, she made significant contributions to the field of botany, authored over 70 scientific publications, and was conferred with an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Illinois. She specialized in the study of grasses and conducted extensive field work in North- as well as and South America. Her Smithsonian Field Books collection from 1897 to 1959 is archived in the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

In 1901, Chase became a botanical assistant at the Field Museum of Natural History under Charles Frederick Millspaugh, where her work was featured in two museum publications: Plantae Utowanae (1900) and Plantae Yucatanae (1904). Two years later, Chase joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a botanical illustrator and eventually became a scientific assistant in systematic agrostology (1907), assistant botanist (1923), and associate botanist (1925), all under Albert Spear Hitchcock. Chase worked with Hitchcock for almost twenty years, collaborating closely and also publishing, for instance The North American Species of Panicum (1910).

Following Hitchcock's death in 1936, Chase succeeded him to become senior botanist in charge of systematic agrostology and custodian of the Section of Grasses, Division of Plants at the United States National Museum (USNM). Chase retired from the USDA in 1939, but continued her work as custodian of the USNM grass herbarium until her death in 1963. She was an Honorary Fellow of the Smithsonian Institution (1959) and Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (1961). Agnesia is named in her honour (a monotypic genus of herbaceous South American bamboo in the grass family).

Chase experienced discrimination based on her gender in the scientific field, for example, being excluded from expeditions to Panama in 1911 and 1912 because the expedition's benefactors feared the presence of women researchers would distract men. During World War I, Chase marched with Alice Paul and was jailed several times for her activities. In 1918, she was arrested at the Silent Sentinels rally picketing the White House; she refused bail and was held for 10 days, where she instigated a hunger-strike and was force-fed. The USDA accused her of "conduct unbecoming a government employee," but Hitchcock helped her keep her job. Chase was also an active member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

See also: Distinguished authors of previous months.

Species of the month

Pincushion Cactus

Cochemiea fraileana

Cochemiea fraileana (Britton & Rose) P.B.Breslin & Majure in Taxon 70(2): 319. (2021)

Some facts about this taxon, one of several species in tribus Cacteae to be called "Pincushion Cactus":

  • Size of stem: 3–4 cm in diameter, 15 cm tall.
  • Size of flower: 2.5–3 cm in diameter.
  • Color of flower: Light pink; petals with darker pink median line, stigma yellowish-green.
  • Blooming season: May to September.
  • Habitat: Grows in non calcareous rocks.
  • Place of origin: The small islands of Pichilinque, Cerraibo and Santa Catalina off Baja California.
  • First described: By Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose in 1923 as Neomammillaria fraileana. In 2021, Peter B. Breslin and Lucas C. Majure assigned it to the genus Cochemiea. There are at least six synonyms to the currently accepted taxon name, including a couple which at the time were ranked as subspecies of Cochemiea albicans.

Cochemiea fraileana is pricky but beautiful, with bell-shaped pink flowers. The elongated, club-shaped fruit is pinkish-lilac or red, and the seeds are black. Studies have shown that this species is a pioneer cactus in rock-colonizing. It belongs to the largest of several genera of diminutive cacti with about 175 species worldwide.

This plant is not very widely cultivated, because it needs a certain amount of heat in the winter, and a moist atmosphere while rooted in a fairly dry substrate. Propagation can be achieved either by vegetative reproduction via cuttings, or sexually by seeds: note however that the plant needs maximum sunlight to grow and achieve success in flowering. Letting the plant rest in winter to shrivel, even losing up to 25% of its summer height, will help the flowering process.

See also: Species of previous months.

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