THE FLORISTIC AND LICHENOLOGICAL WORK OF LATHAM,ROY ON EASTERN LONG-ISLAND, NEW-YORK

ROY LATHAM (1881-1979, portrait and brief biography included), a native of Orient, Long Island, New York, was one of the most important field naturalists of northeastern North America. A potato farmer and commercial fisherman by occupation, Latham was deeply interested in all natural history disciplines, including archaeology. He collected and deposited in museums ca. 245,000 specimens, and published extensively in scientific journals (300+ papers). After becoming interested in lichens at age 25, Latham collected and observed them during the rest of his life. His lichen collection of ca. 2000 specimens provided an invaluable historical baseline for Irwin M. Brodo's 1968 work The Lichens of Long Island, New York: A Vegetational and Floristic Analysis. Latham's lichen vouchers were deposited in NYS in 1969, with some duplicates given to CUP decades before via STEWART H. BURNHAM (1870-1943, portrait and brief biography included), with whom Latham collaborated on a flora of the Town of Southold and Gardiner's Island, Suffolk County, New York. Some Latham specimens were also sent to specialists for determination, and remain at their institutions. Historical details on Latham's natural history specimens, his friendship with Burnham, and his perceptions of Cetraria arenaria, Cladina stellaris, Cladina rangiferina, and Platismatia tuckemanii (all of special interest on Long Island) are provided from Latham letters and literature.