A Yankee botanist in the Carolinas

Asa Gray remarked on Moses Ashley Curtis's contributions at the time of his death, noting that his dedicated efforts have earned the gratitude of botanists for generations. This biography aims to familiarize future generations with Curtis's life and work, being the first comprehensive study of him. A native of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Curtis graduated from Williams College and spent much of his adult life as an Episcopal clergyman in North and South Carolina. Despite limited formal training in botany, he began studying the seed plants around Wilmington, North Carolina, shortly after his arrival in 1830. In 1835, he published "An Enumeration of Plants Growing Spontaneously Around Wilmington, North Carolina" in the Journal of the Boston Society of Natural History, with guidance from Gray and John Torrey. His catalog of North Carolina plants eventually encompassed 4,849 species. In 1846, after completing his study of higher plants, he shifted focus to fungi, building on earlier work by Lewis David von Schweinitz. Lacking local expertise, he collaborated with the Reverend Miles Joseph Berkeley, a prominent English authority. Their enthusiastic partnership lasted twenty-six years, and their extensive correspondence has been published, solidifying Curtis's reputation as a leading American authority in mycology.