Helen Vandervort Smith
Helen Vandervort Smith (March 3, 1909 – August 3, 1995) was an American botanist, known for her work on wildflowers and mushrooms.
Biography
[edit | edit source]Helen Vandervort Smith was born to Orma and Ora Smith in Jamestown, Ohio, in 1909.[1][2][3] As a young child, she moved with her family to the area of Caldwell, Idaho, where she grew up.[1]
Smith obtained a bachelor's in English from the College of Idaho in 1930.[1][2] She then graduated with a master's degree from the University of Oregon in 1932, focusing her research on fossil plants from Succor Creek.[1][2] From 1932 to 1940, she studied at the University of Michigan, obtaining a doctorate in botany in 1940.[1][2] Her doctoral research focused on fossil plants in Idaho's Thorn Creek.[1][2]
As her career progressed, she went on to research wildflowers and mushrooms.[1] In 1961, she published the book Michigan Wildflowers.[1][4] Also a watercolor painter, she produced various illustrations of North American mushrooms and other flora.[1]
Smith was also active in land conservation efforts in Michigan.[1]
She married mycologist Alexander H. Smith in 1936, and the couple often collaborated professionally, including on two illustrated books about mushrooms.[1][5]
In 1995, at age 86, she died in Corvallis, Oregon, where she had moved in her later years.[1][2][3] A wildflower garden at the University of Michigan's Matthaei Botanical Gardens was named in Smith's honor.[1]
References
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