Billie June McCaskill

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Billie June McCaskill
Born(1930-06-02)June 2, 1930
Altadena, California, United States
DiedMay 9, 2001(2001-05-09) (aged 70)
California, United States
Scientific career
FieldsBotany.

Billie June McCaskill,[1] better known as June McCaskill (2 June 1930 – 9 May 2011), was an American herbarium curator at the University of California, Davis and expert in weed identification.[2][3]

Life[]

McCaskill was born in Altadena, in California.[2] She grew up in Pasadena where her family operated a nursery called McCaskill Gardens.[4]

She attended Mills College in 1949, and graduated with a degree in Botany in 1951.[2][4] She started her career at University of California, Davis in 1953, becoming the first curator of the Botany Department's Herbarium, until her retirement in 1991.[5] McCaskill specialised in the identification of weeds, and was particularly focused on agricultural weeds that were toxic to livestock.[4] Her botanical skills were also used to investigate multiple homicides.[5][4][6] She retired in 1991.

Published major work[]

  • Bill B. Fischer, Arthur H. Lange, June McCaskill, Beecher Crampton, and Betsey Tabraham, Growers Weed Identification Handbook (University of California), multiple editions.
  • John M. Tucker, and June McCaskill. “Heteranthera Limosa in California.” Madroño, vol. 19, no. 2, 1967, pp. 64–64.

Legacy[]

The June McCaskill Plant Identification Laboratory of the University of California, Davis's Center for Plant Diversity herbaria was named in her honour.[5][7]

The following cultivar was named in her honour:

  • Camellia japonica ‘June McCaskill.’[2][8]

Botanical collections[]

Her collections of Californian weeds are held in various North American herbaria, including the University of California, Davis Herbarium, and the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada National Collection of Vascular Plants.[1] In Australasia, her specimens are held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum Herbarium, the Allan Herbarium, and the National Herbarium of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.[9]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries. "McCaskill, Billie June". Index of Botanists. Harvard University. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Tucker, J.M. (2004). "June McCaskill (1930-2001)" (PDF). Fremontia. 32 (2): 19–23.
  3. ^ IET WebDev (2001). "June Mccaskill, UC Davis Weed Identity Expert, Dies". University of California, Davis. University of California, Davis. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Lage, Ann (1989). June McCaskill: Herbarium scientist, University of California, Davis. Davis, California: Regional Oral History Office. p. 85.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c The Center for Plant Diversity (2011–2020). "Collections History". University of California, Davis. University of California, Davis. Retrieved 7 June 2021.CS1 maint: date format (link)
  6. ^ Lapin, Lisa (2003). "The Value of Flattened Flora". UC Davis Magazine Online. 20 (4).
  7. ^ Dean, Ellen A. (2004). "On the Threshold of a Room of Her Own" (PDF). Fremontia. 32 (2): 22.
  8. ^ King, Bradford (2004). "Remembering Our Past: Vernon McCaskill 'High Wide'n Handsome' as a camellia hybridizer". The Camellia Journal. 69 (3): 12–14.
  9. ^ "The Australasian Virtual Herbarium". The Australasian Virtual Herbarium. Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH). 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
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