Edward Palmer

Edward Palmer (1829 - 1911) was a self-taught British botanist and early American archaeologist. Born in England, he spent most of his life in the United States, where he was employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a botanist. He led an expedition in 1891 exploring the flora and fauna of California and particularly Death Valley. He also collected specimens in Mexico and South America and had about 200 species and one genus (Palmerella) of plants named after him. The standard botanical author abbreviation Palmer is applied to species he described. Though primarily a Botanist, Edward Palmer also contributed to early American archaeology. Between 1882 and 1884, Palmer worked as a field assistant for the Bureau of American...