Lillian Eleanore Arnold was born on 1 September
1895 in Downingtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania. She completed
a Bachelor of Science degree at John B. Stetson University (Deland,
Florida) in 1918. From 1918 to 1920 she was a librarian at the
Carnegie Library in Bradenton, Florida. In 1927 she began a long
association with the Department of Plant Pathology, Florida Agricultural
Experiment Station (Gainesville, Florida), first as a stenographer
and later as an assistant botanist. She attended the University
of Florida (Gainesville, Florida) starting in 1929, and completed
a Masters of Science in 1934.
In July, 1936, Ms. Arnold joined the staff
of the Herbarium of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station
(Gainesville, Florida) as an assistant botanist. In 1948, she
was the Herbarium's Acting Curator (2). She retired after more
than 30 years of service (3). FLAS is the primary repository for
her specimens.
With approximately 10% of the NCU herbarium
databased, we have found approximately 22 specimens collected
by Lillian Arnold. All were collected in Florida. The earliest
specimens, NCU 29035 Pteris cretica (L.) Small and NCU
29045 Dryopteris floridana (Hook) Kuntze (= Dryopteris
ludoviciana (Kunze) Small), were collected in October 1931
at the Devil's Millhopper, Alachua County, Florida. This site
was the focus of her Master's Thesis, “A study of the more
conspicuous flora of the Devil's Millhopper,” completed
in 1934 at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
The latest specimen found in NCU's collection, Poinsettia
pinetorum Small (= Euphorbia pinetorum (Small) Webster)
was co-collected with F. C. Craighead in November of 1957 from
Dade County, Florida. Arnold and another frequent co-collector,
Erdman West, co-authored a book on the native trees of Florida.
Ms. Arnold collected the type
specimen of a fungus and it was named in her honor in 1940 (4):
Russula Arnoldae sp. nov. Type
collection by Lillian E. Arnold, near Gainesville, Fla., September
25, 1938 (F 18230).
A very handsome, highly-colored specimen with yellow, spinulose
spores and mild flesh.
PUBLICATIONS
Arnold, Lillian E. 1934.
A study of the more conspicuous flora of the Devil's Millhopper.
Master's Thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Arnold, Lillian E. 1936. A field trip to
the Devil's Millhopper. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific
Society 52: 77-90.
Arnold, Lillian. 1954. Some honey plants
of Florida. University of Florida Agricultural Experiment Station
Bulletin 548, Gainesville, Florida. 47 pp.
Arnold, Lillian E. and John Beckner.
1955. A fern genus new to the United States. American Fern Journal
45(1): 10-11.
West, Erdman and Lillian E. Arnold. 1946.
The Native Trees of Florida. Gainesville: University of Florida
Press. 212 pp.
West, Erdman and Lillian E. Arnold. 1956. The Native Trees of
Florida. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. 218 pp.
SOURCES
1. personal communication,
Kent Perkins, Manager of the Collection, FLAS. He excerpted the
information from correspondance between Arnold and Dr. John Hendley
Barnhart for his biographical card catalog.
2. Jones,
George Neville and Edna Meadows. 1948. Principal Institutional
Herbaria of the United States. American Midland Naturalist 40(3):
724-740.
3. www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herbarium/flashist.htm
accessed on 25 October, 2006.
4. Murrill, William A. 1940. Additions
to the Florida fungi II. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club
67(1): 57-66.
