Velva Elaine Rudd (1910 – December 9, 1999) was an American botanist, specializing in tropical legumes.[1] She worked as a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History and also conducted research at the herbarium at California State University, Northridge.[2][3]
Velva E. Rudd | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1910 |
| Died | December 9, 1999 California |
| Alma mater | North Dakota Agricultural College, George Washington University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Institutions | National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution and California State University, Northridge |
| Thesis | The American Species of Aeschynomene (1953) |
Early life
editVelva Elaine Rudd was born in 1910 in Fargo, North Dakota.[4]
Education and career
editVelva Rudd wrote her master's thesis at North Dakota Agricultural College on Euphorbia virgata (leafy spurge).[5] The thesis is titled An ecological study of leafy spurge and was completed in 1932.[6] In 1953 she received her Ph.D. in botany from George Washington University with a dissertation titled The American Species of Aeschynomene.[7] She was an assistant curator from 1948 to 1959 and a curator from 1959 to 1973 in the Department of Botany, United States National Herbarium Smithsonian Institution of Washington, DC. She had started as a technician at the Smithsonian under Kittie Fenley Parker. Rudd specialized in Fabaceae and wrote more than 70 papers on the taxonomy of tropical species of legumes. Her contributions include a six-part monograph published from 1955 to 1968 in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium; the monograph deals with seven genera: Aeschynomene, Ateleia, Chaetocalyx, Cyathostegia, Dussia, Nissolia, and Ormosia.[1] In 1973 she retired as a curator of the National Herbarium.[1] She became a Research Fellow in the Department of Biology of the California State University, Northridge until her death.[8][9] Her field work was carried out in many tropical locations, including Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Venezuela, and Sri Lanka.[1]
Rudd is the namesake for six species of legumes and the genus Ruddia.[2] North Dakota State University's Department of Biological Sciences sponsors an annual Dr. Velva E. Rudd Scholarship Award for botany juniors or seniors.[10]
Eponyms
editThe Mexican genus of legumes Ruddia Yakovlev 1971 is named in her honor, as well as several species of legumes:
- (Fabaceae) Acacia ruddiae D.H.Janzen (from Costa Rica)[3]
- (Fabaceae) Dioclea ruddiae R.H.Maxwell (from Venezuela)[3]
- (Fabaceae) Nissolia ruddiae Cruz Durán & M.Sousa
- (Fabaceae) Ormosia ruddiana Yakovlev (from Minas Gerais, Brazil)[3]
- (Melastomataceae) Clidemia ruddae Wurdack (from Mexico)[3]
- (Mimosoideae) Vachellia ruddiae (D.H.Janzen) Seigler & Ebinger
Taxa named by Rudd
edit- Paramachaerium krukovii Rudd (from western Brazil)[11]
- Paramachaerium schunkei Rudd (from Peru)[11]
- with Annetta Mary Carter: Acacia kelloggiana A.M.Carter & Rudd[12][13]
with Mario Sousa
edit- Styphnolobium burseroides M.Sousa & Rudd[14]
- Styphnolobium caudatum M.Sousa & Rudd (native to Nicaragua)
- Styphnolobium conzattii (Standl.) M.Sousa & Rudd
- Styphnolobium monteviridis M.Sousa & Rudd[14] (native to Central America)
- Styphnolobium parviflorum M.Sousa & Rudd[14]
- Styphnolobium protantherum M.Sousa & Rudd[14]
- Styphnolobium sporadicum M.Sousa & Rudd[14]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "brief bio of Velva E. Rudd". The Plant Press: A Quarterly Newsletter from the Botany Dept (NMNH) and the U. S. National Herbarium. 17 (1). January 2014.
- ^ a b Torres, Anna. "Get to Know the Leading Ladies of Science at the Smithsonian". www.smithsonianmag.com. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Velva Rudd". The Plant Press. 3 (1). January 2000.
- ^ "Fargo, North Dakota Photographers" (PDF). State Historical Society of North Dakota (history.nd.gov).
- ^ Hanson, Herbert C.; Rudd, Velva E. (March 1933). "Leafy spurge: Life history and habits" (PDF). Bulletin 266, Agricultural Experiment Station, North Dakota State Agricultural College.
- ^ Rudd, Velva (1932). An ecological study of leafy spurge. Retrieved from ProQuest.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Rudd, Velva (1953). The American Species of Aeschynomene. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: The George Washington University.
- ^ "Rudd, Velva E." Smithsonian Institution Archives.
- ^ "The Cutting Edge (newsletter of project Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica)". 7 (1). January 2000.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Department of Biological Sciences, Scholarships" (PDF). North Dakota State University.
- ^ a b Rudd, Velva E. (1981). "Two New Species of Paramachaerium (Leguminosae) and a Brief Resume of the Genus". Brittonia. 33 (3): 435–440. doi:10.2307/2806433. JSTOR 2806433. S2CID 83844464.
- ^ Carter, Annetta M.; Rudd, Velva E. (October 1981). "A new species of Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) from Baja California Sur, Mexico". Madroño. 28 (4): 220–225. JSTOR 41424328.
- ^ "Acacia kelloggiana A.M.Carter & Rudd". Encyclopedia of Life.
- ^ a b c d e Sousa S., Mario; Rudd, Velva E. (1993). "Revision del Genero Styphnolobium (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Sophoreae)". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 80 (1): 270–283. doi:10.2307/2399827. JSTOR 2399827.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Rudd.