science · 23 February 1863 · 161 years ago
birth
Born 23 Feb 1863; died 5 Feb 1943 at age 79.
U.S. botanist whose major area of research was the cycad genera, palmlike, cone-bearing plants intermediate in appearance and structural features between tree ferns and palms. Before his work, little was known concerning the life histories, distribution, ecology, and diversity of cycads and other primitive seed plants. Making visits to Mexico, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa and Cuba (1904-22), Chamberlain collected specimens and gained information on critical stages in such plant development. Studying the primitive gymnosperms of the cycad family enabled him to postulate a course of evolutionary development for the spermatophyte (seed plant) ovule and embryo and led to speculation about a cycad origin for angiosperms (flowering plants).
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