Philip A. Munz

File:Philip Munz, 1935.jpg

Munz in 1935

Philip Alexander Munz (1892–1974) was an American botanist, plant taxonomist and educator who worked at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and was a professor of botany at Pomona College, serving as dean there for three years.

In 1935 Munz published his Manual of Southern California Botany. Munz compiled the voluminous A California Flora with David D. Keck, published by the University of California Press in 1959, and with a supplement published in 1968. Munz published A California Flora without any research support and with a relatively small subvention for publication from the University of California Press. In 1974, his book A Flora of Southern California was published posthumously, with the botanical families presented in an alphabetical order.

List of selected publications

Munz authored four popular plant guides for general readers interested in botany but untrained in plant taxonomy, published by the University of California Press, and referred to as the California Wildflower Books:

Honours

Several plants have been named after him including; Salvia munzii Epling, Cereus munzii Parish (= Echinocereus munzii (Parish) L.D. Benson), Iris munzii R.C. Foster, Layia munzii D.D. Keck, Opuntia munzii C.B. Wolf and the genus Munzothamnus P.H. Raven. (Asteraceae).

References

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