Gentry Tribute

Alwyn Howard Gentry, 1945-1993: A Tribute
Author(s): James S. Miller, Theodore M. Barkley, Hugh H. Iltis, Walter H. Lewis, Enrique
Forero, Mark Plotkin, Oliver Phillips, Ricardo Rueda and Peter H. Raven
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 83, No. 4 (1996), pp. 433-460
Published by: Missouri Botanical Garden Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2399988 .
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Volume83 Annals
Number4 of the
1996 Missouri
Botanical
Garden
ALWYN HOWARD GENTRY, 1945-1993: A TRIBUTE
This issue of the Annals of theMissouriBotanical Gardenis dedicatedto the memoryof

AlwynH. Gentry. The firstsectioncontainscontributions
by someofthosescientistswhoknew
him. It begins withan overviewof his life by JamesS. Miller,includinglists of Gentry's
publicationsand ofhis students.A transcript
ofthepresentations
givenat thememorialservice
held at the MissouriBotanicalGardenon 20 August,1993, follows.The speakerswere:Theo-
doreM. Barkley,HughH. Iltis,WalterH. Lewis,EnriqueForero,MarkPlotkin,OliverPhillips,
and RicardoRueda. The tributecloses withthe eulogydeliveredby PeterH. Raven.
ANN. MISSOURI BOT. GARD. 83: 433-460. 1996.

434 Annals of the
MissounBotanicalGarden
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ALWYN HOWARD GENTRY, 1945-1993

Al Gentry
withflowering branchof Tabebuiain Costa Rica. The CentralAmericanspecies of Tabebuia
werethesubjectof his Master'sThesis,and Costa Rica was the firsttropicalcountrythathe visited.
Volume 83, Number4 AlwynHoward Gentry:A Tribute 435
1996
THE LIFE AND WORK OF AL GENTRY Garden and generallyfilledby graduatestudents

workingon the systematicsof CentralAmerican
On August3, 1993, a smallairplaneon a Conser- plants.His Ph.D. thesis,completed forgraduation in
vationInternational researchmissioncrashedintoan Decemberof1972,wasentitled "AnEco-evolutionary
isolatedmountainridge in westernEcuador,near StudyoftheBignoniaceaeofSouthern CentralAmer-
Guayaquil.AlwynH. Gentry and TheodoreA. Parker ica."
III, arguablytheleadingauthorities on thebotanyand In October1972, Gentry was hiredas an Assistant
ornithology of tropicalAmerica,died in the crash Curatorby theMissouriBotanicalGarden,wherehe
alongwiththepilotand EduardoAspiazu,an Ecua- spenthisentirecareer.In 1974 he madehisfirst trips
dorianecologistand President oftheGuayaquilchap- toSouthAmerica,SouthAfrica, and Madagascar, and
terofFundaci6nNatura.Threeotherresearchers sur- late in the yearhe made his firsttripto Peru,the
vived the crash.This eventprematurely ended the country thatwouldremainthemajorgeographical fo-
careerofone ofthegreatest plantexplorers and bot- cus ofhis studies.
anistsof all time.Gentry's knowledge of neotropical Duringhis careerat the MissouriBotanicalGar-
plantswas unsurpassed, and Parker'sextensiveex- den, Gentry'sinterestsin systematics and ecology
periencewithLatinAmerican birdsmirrored Gentry's continually expandedtoincludea widevariety oftop-
knowledge ofitsplants.Anyonefamiliar withGentry ics,butmostofhis timeand energy focusedon three:
knewthathe workedtirelessly, was ambitious, con- the systematics of Bignoniaceae;tropicalfloristics,
ductedgroundbreaking and insightful scientific
stud- particularlythefloraofPeru;and studiesofthecor-
ies at a tremendous rate,and was passionatein his relation betweenenvironmental variablesandpatterns
questforunderstanding and conservation ofthemost offorest diversity and composition.
diversenaturalareas in theworld. Gentry becameinterested in thesystematics ofBig-
Al Gentry was bornon January 6, 1945, in Clay noniaceaeduringhis firsttripto the tropicson the
Center, Kansas.He graduated from ClayCounty Com- OTS coursein CostaRica in 1967. Although he was
munity HighSchoolin 1963,wherehe was bothval- initially attracted to thebrilliant-flowered genusTab-
edictorianand outstanding science student,and he ebuiaand choseitas thesubjectofhis master's stud-
beganhis university studiesat Kansas StateUniver- ies, his interest rapidlyshiftedto the vininggenera
sityin thefallofthatyear.He graduated in 1967 with thatcomprisethemajority ofthespecies.Throughout
twodegrees,onea bachelorofartsin physicalscience his lifehe maintained interest in thefamily, and he
and the othera bachelorof science in botanyand continuedto publishprofusely on it. His graduate
zoology. studiesled to his firsttenpublications on Bignonia-
He spentthe summerof 1967 in CostaRica, his ceae, and he publishedthefirstpartofa Flora Neo-
firstimmersion in thetropics,on an Organization of tropicatreatment ofthefamily in 1980 andthesecond
TropicalStudies(OTS) Introductory Course.Here he in 1992. In addition, he contributed treatments ofthe
beganhisworkon Bignoniaceae, whichwas toremain familyforninefloristic volumesand had fivetreat-
his primary monographic interestforlife.In thefall, mentsofthefamilyin pressat thetimeofhis death.
Gentrymovedto Madison,Wisconsin,to beginhis His interest in the familywas notsolelyconcerned
master'sstudiesin the botanydepartment withPro- withalpha taxonomy, however. He authoredand co-
fessorHugh H. Iltis.He spentthesummerof 1968 authoredstudieson the ethnobotany, palynology, cy-
at the University of Miamiin a seminaron tropical tology, and chemistry ofthefamily, and evenas early
botany, finishedhisthesison Tabebuia(Bignoniaceae) as his doctoralstudieshe began investigating polli-
in CentralAmericain thefallsemester, andgraduated nationmechanisms and theecologicalimportance of
withan M.S. degreeinJanuary of1969. Withsupport thefamily.
fromtheDavis FundoftheUniversity ofWisconsin, At thetimethatGentry joinedtheMissouriBotan-
he leftimmediately forfieldwork in CostaRica, Pan- ical Garden'sresearchstaff,the groupwas deeply
ama,and MexicofromJanuary to March. committed to completion oftheFlora ofPanama, an
In thefallof 1969, Al beganhis doctoralstudies ongoingprojectthathad begunwithfieldwork in the
at Washington University in St.Louis,Missouri, under 1920s and had been appearingas fasciclesin the
thedirection ofProfessor WalterLewis.Withsupport Annalsof theMissouriBotanicalGardenfornearly
froma NationalScienceFoundation pre-doctoraldis- threedecades. The 1970s at the Gardenmarkeda
sertationimprovement grant, Gentry leftforfieldstud- decidedeffort to bringtheprojectto completion, and
ies in Costa Rica and Panamain May of 1971. He Gentry playeda majorrole,contributing theFlora of
returned to Panamain August,working fora yearas Panama treatments forBignoniaceae, Buxaceae,Hu-
curator oftheSummit Herbarium, a position managed miriaceae,Rafflesiaceae,and Sabiaceae. He also
on a one-year rotationbasisbytheMissouriBotanical madea significant contribution by routinely identify-
436 Annals of the
Missoun Botanical Garden
I I
Fagure_1. Gentryin Peni withCamiloDfaz and Rosa Ortizde Gentry.
Fyse
1.Gentry
nPeru
Diaz
and
withRosa
Ortiz
Camilode
Gentry
ingthestely seam ofincoming and he studies,Gentrylaid out transectsat Maddenlake,
collections,
1pblishedntes and new species in eightadditional PipelineRoad,and CurunduinPanama,thistimeto
fanubes.Thishad a variety ofaffectson Gentry.Fist, document theimportance of igas thema-
it was the ofth development ofwhatwere jor lianafamily in PItr forests andtostudyspecies
to becmeu a si in generalpFl identifi- phenology and pollinationIt was notuntillaterthat
catiolLSecond, he beganhis sudies oftheotherplant he beganto viewthetransects as a toolthatallowed
gimip, such as Sabiaceae, Buxaceae, and Passiflor- a relatively quickmethodofmeasuri diversity, tax-
aceae, thatcontiled to remainsecondaryinterests onomiccomposition, and sture offorests.
in lat years He also becameadeptat assembling Up untilhe began his studies,no one had ever
florsic iraon andacqumngthebasicskillsthat collecteda data set withany geoaphically signifi-
late enabledhimtocoauthor twoflorulasin Ecuadlor cant coverage.Mostofthe ecological ling that
Rio Palnque withC. H Dodson,and Jaunechewith had been done used a varietyof different
C. HI Dodson and F. K Valverde,and one of the and was thusnotcomparablefirmsiteto site.Gen-
Choc6, wi EnriqueForero. try'sbrilliancewas to devisea methodthatalloweda
However;it was Peruthatultimately becameGen- representative sampletobe capturedin a briefperiod
try'sprimary floisticfocus.Afterhisfisttripin 1974, ofseveraldays.This,coupledwithhisever-increasing
he returned thee in 1976 and at least once a year abilityto ident tropicalplants,particularly from
foreveryyearurtilhis death, n 33 trips.He vegetative charactersallowedhimtoamassa dataset
publishedextensively on thePeruvianfloraand de- that,whilewithsome limitations and assumipons,
velopedcollabrativerelationhpswithmanyof his was c able fromsiteto site.Of course,another
Peruviancolleagues,particularly Rodofo Vasquez important character was thatGentry simplyknewno
and CamiloDiaz limits.Thereare fewpeople whowouldembarkon
Gentry becamefa}misforhis use oftunsectsam- explainingpatterns of diversity
and taxonomic com-
He collectedhis first
ples to assess vegetation. tran- positionofforests on a worldwide basis expecting to
sects as partof his 0IT training in 1%7, probably collectall oftheirowndata Gentry,ainedas a tax-
withlittlemorein mindthancomparigtwo j onomist, tookon an ecologicalproblemthathad been
vegetation types,but perhapshis greatestresearch beyondthe ima aionof the ecologicalresearch
arosefrom thisauspiciousstart.As partofhisdoctoral commum.
1996
The methodinvolvedsamplingall of the woody Manywerecollectedin thecourseofground-breaking

speciesgreater than2.5 cm diameter at breastheight expeditionsto remoteregionsof tropicalAmerica,
(DBH) in one-tenth ofa hectare.He stretched a 50-m someofthemneverbeforevisitedbybotanists. Gen-
line through theforest and sampledall plantswithin try'sstaminaand enthusiasm on theseexpeditions, as
one meterofeitherside. This he repeatedtentimes, wellas his nearobliviousness to physicaldiscomfort,
and the sum of ten 2 X 50-mtransects totaled0.1 werelegendary. On one occasion(recounted inA Par-
ha. Withhis knowledgeof tropicalplants,Gentry rotWithout a Name,by Stap,1990), Al and Camilo
could rapidlymakedecisionsabouthowmanyindi- Diaz becamelostforoverthreedaysin a remotelo-
vidualsencountered representednew species. Any- cationin the PeruvianAmazon,finallyre-emerging
thingquestionablewas voucheredforlaterstudyin backat camphaggardand disheveled.Despitehaving
the herbarium, and each species was voucheredat wanderedwithoutfoodor shelter(theysurvivedon
leastonce.The finalanalysiscouldonlybe completed nuts,snails,and,finally, palmheart,retrieved froma
afterall ofthe specimenshad been identified. Thus treeAl cut downwithhis jacknife),Al paused only
even in the'richestforests, he could collectthe site longenoughfora briefmealbeforeresuming collect-
in a week,and withanotherweekin theherbarium, ing,protesting overtheobjections offellowexpedition
completehis analysis. members thatnowhe wouldhave to workextrahard
The vastmajority ofplantsencountered at a given to makeup forthetimelost.Even thosewhoworked
timein anyforest thatAl censusedweresterile.Iden- withhimundermoremundanecircumstances can at-
tifyingthemthusrequiredeithertheeffort ofmultiple testtohistirelesspersistence, havingsuffered through
visitsto a givensiteto obtainthemajority ofspecies late nightsofpressingplantspecimensamasseddur-
in fertileconditionortheabilitytoaccurately identify ing long and strenuousdays of collecting.But that
sterilespecimens.Gentry'sbold determination led tirelessnesswas a reflectionof Gentry'sbeliefin the
himto the secondoption;thisrequiredthathe de- fundamental importance, even urgency,of under-
velop and refinethe capacityto workwithsterile standingtropicalforests.How could one restwhen
specimens.For yearshe carrieda notebookwitha therewereso manymarvelstobe uncovered, so many
draftkeytofamiliesand generaofneotropical genera undescribedspecies,so manyvanishingbeforethey
basedon vegetative characters,andas he encountered couldevenbe described?
new taxa he continually revisedhis text.This effort Gentry as Teacher. Despitehis notoriously frenetic
led to Gentry's remarkable capacityto identify neo- schedule,Gentry foundtime-and indeed,considered
tropicalplantsfromall sortsofspecimens, and tothe it his mission-to encourageand instruct promising
publicationof his Field Guideto the Familiesand youngbotanists.Over the courseof his career,he
Generaof Woody PlantsofNorthwest SouthAmerica. supervisedthe thesesof about20 students.At the
Gentry's contributionstosciencewerephenomenal. timeof his death,he was supervising nine graduate
His morethan200 publishedworks,withmanyad- students, and manymorehad appliedor wereplan-
ditionalarticlesstillin press,covera widevariety of ningto applyto graduateschoolsin St. Louis,spe-
subjects.He radicallychangedourmodernconcepts cificallyso theycould workwithGentry.Manyof
ofthe classification of Bignoniaceaeand contributed thesewerefromthe tropicalcountrieshe so loved.
to ourknowledge ofmanyotherfamiliesas well.The Perhapsone of Gentry's greatestlegacies is his in-
publications resulting fromthedata thatGentry and spiringand launchingthe careersof a cadre of the
his colleaguescollectedfrom226 different 0.1-ha nextgeneration oftropicalbiologists(see listofstu-
transects revolutionized thestudyofpatterns ofplant dentsfollowing publications).
diversity.The transect studiesthatGentry beganas a At the timeof his death,Al Gentry was involved
graduatestudentexpandedto morethan200 sites in a myriadof projects.His monographic workon
worldwide, and thefocusofthe studiesshifted from neotropicalBignoniaceae had continued,although the
attempting to studytheimportance and phenology of manuscripts hadnotyetbeenwritten, and he waswell
Bignoniaceaeto attempting to understand patterns of intoa studyofMalagasymembers ofthefamily. The
plantdiversity and thetaxonomic composition offor- databasethathe had developedcontained recordsfor
ests. some55,000 herbarium collectionshe had examined
At the same timethathe amassed such an im- frommorethan122 herbariaaroundtheworld.Wil-
pressivepublication record,however, he also had an liam G. D'Arcyhas assumedprimary responsibility
enormous impactas an explorer, plantcollector, and forthecompletion ofGentry's studiesofBignoniaceae,
teacher. and WarrenD. Hauk has joined the Gardenstaffto
Gentry as Explorer/Plant Collector.Gentrymade helpwiththistask.Thisworkwillincludecompletion
morethan80,000 plantcollections, and hundredsof ofrevisionsforthosegenerathatwerenottreatedin
new species have been based on these specimens. thetwovolumesof BignoniaceaeGentry contributed
438 Annals of the
MissouriBotanical Garden
to the Flora Neotropica. Gentryhad envisionedtwo other, resulting in datasetsin a variety offormats and
additional volumesfortreatment ofthefamily. He also oftenwithextraneous information needingremoval. At
leftan unpublished manuscript theBignoni- the Garden,OliverPhillipsundertook
treating the difficult
aceae of Colombia,whichwill be publishedin the taskofreorganizing previously computerized dataand
Flora de Colombiaseries.Duringhis careerGentry insuring thatinformation fromtheothersiteswas en-
assembledtheworld'srichestherbarium collectionof teredintothesarueformat. All ofthedatawas either
Bignoniaceae, includinghisowncollections andthose enteredor converted to consistent computerized for-
he receivedas giftsfrom Thesecol- matby NancyHediger.
otherinstitutions.
lectionsand his databaseare readilyavailable;the The Gardenwillmakeall ofthetransect dataavail-
MissouriBotanicalGardenencourages otherresearch- able via theWorldWideWeb(http://www.mobot. org),
ers to studyand use theseresources.A "Gentry In- so thatresearchers can eitheraccess information from
vitationSeries" has been establishedfortaxonomic individual sitesordownloadregionalsetsortheentire
publications bypeoplewhoarerelying heavilyon ma- collection.OliverPhillipsand I are preparing a book
terialleftby Gentry orwhowishto paytribute tothe to presentthe resultsof the data analysis,withan
contributions he madeto theirwork.Thoseinterested introduction coveringthe historicalbackground and
shouldcontactW.G. D'ArcyattheMissouriBotanical the rationaleand methodology of the transectdata.
Garden. The bulkofthebookwillconsistofsingle-page data
The transectsoccupied an ever increasingper- summaries foreach transect site,and thevolumewill
centageof Gentry's timeand wereundoubtedly the be publishedin theMonographs inSystematic Botany
partofhis workhe plannedto focusmoston in the fromtheMissouri BotanicalGardenand entitled Glob-
future.In 1990, the Rapid AssessmentProgram al Patterns ofPlantDiversity: Alwyn H. Gentry'sForest
(RAP) Teamwasfounded at ConservationInternation-Transect Data Set. It willserveas a companionvol-
al, and Gentry beganworking half-timewithLouise ume to the computerized setoftransect dataavailable
Emmons,Robin Foster,and Ted Parkerto conduct on theWorldWideWeb.
quickinventories ofareasdeemedto be ofgreatcon- The listof Gentry's publications thatfollowsis as
servation significance.
Gentry's0.1-hatransectsfitthe completeas possible.However,at the timeof his
RAP Teamphilosophy and his participation death,he was activelyinvolvedin a largenumberof
perfectly,
helpedservehis need forevenmoreopportunities to collaborative projects,and manyof his collaborators
installtransects andcollectdatafroman everincreas- continueto includehimas a coauthor. He also had
ingnumberofsites. contributed treatments of various taxa to a varietyof
Al Gentrycertainly neverimaginedthatthe data floristic projects that have yetto be published.Thus,
thathe and his collaborators had amassedfrom226 his listof publications willcontinueto growbeyond
0.1-ha transectswere,in fact,readyto be summa- thenumberincludedbelow,and willincludecontri-
rized.At thetimeofhis death,data fromonlyabout butionsin theGentry Invitation Series.To document
90 ofhis siteshadbeencomputerized, the extent of Gentry's involvement in the trainingof
andthesewere
in drasticneed ofrevisionto includenamesofnewly botanists, a listof all his students and theirprojects,
compiledby W. G. D'Arcy,followsthe publications
identified plantspecimens.Gentry generally worked
list.
fromhand-calculated summaries ofeach site.Due to
advancesin software overthelongcourseofhiswork Literature Cited
on transects,thedatathathad beencomputerized was Stap,D. 1990. A ParrotWithout a Name.AlfredA.
transferred morethanonce fromone program to an- Knopf, NewYork.
1996
AlwynH. Gentry:Publications Gentry, A. H. 1975. AdditionalPanamanianMyristica-

ceae. Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.62: 474-479.
Gentry, A. H. 1969. A comparisonof some leaf charac- Gentry, A. H. 1975. Studies in Bignoniaceae17: Kige-
teristicsoftropicaldryforestand tropicalwetforestin lianthe:A synonym ofFernandoa(Bignoniaceae).Ann.
Costa Rica. Turrialba19: 419-428. MissouriBot. Gard.62: 480-483.
Gentry, A. H. 1969. Tabebuia:The tortuoushistoryof a Gentry, A. H. 1975. Identification of Vellozo'sBignonia-
genericname.Taxon18: 635-652. ceae. Taxon24: 337-344.
Gentry, A. H. 1970. A revisionof Tabebuia(Bignonia- Gentry, A. H. 1975. Enallagma-Amphitecna-Dendrosicus:
ceae) in CentralAmerica.Brittonia 22: 246-264. A different viewofproposals46, 47, and 48. Taxon24:
Gentry,A. H. 1971. Studiesin BignoniaceaeIII. Twonew 391-392.
Panamanian species of Bignoniaceae.Ann. Missouri Gentry, A. H. 1976. Amphitecna-Enallagma-Dendrosicus
Bot. Gard.58: 93-96. revisited.Taxon25: 108.
Gentry,A. H. 1971. Noteon Gibsoniothamnus. Fieldiana, Gentry, A. H. 1976. Studies in Bignoniaceae18: Notes
Botany34: 55. on S. Moore'sMatoGrossoBignoniaceae.Ann.Missouri
Gentry, A. H. 1971. BignoniaceaeofOTS lowlandstudy Bot. Gard.63: 42-45.
sites.Section26-16 in C. E. Schnell(editor),Handbook Gentry, A. H. 1976. Studies in Bignoniaceae19: Addi-
forTropicalBiologyin Costa Rica. OTS, Costa Rica. tionalnewornoteworthy SouthAmericanBignoniaceae.
Gentry,A. H. 1972. An Eco-evolutionary Studyof the Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.63: 46-80.
Bignoniaceae of SouthernCentral America,2 vols. Gentry, A. H. 1976. A new PanamanianSterculiawith
Ph.D. Thesis,Washington University, St. Louis,Missou- taxonomic noteson thegenus.Ann.MissouriBot.Gard.
ri. 63: 370-372.
Gentry, A. H. 1972. Handroanthus (Bignoniaceae):A cri- Gentry,A. H. 1976. Bignoniaceaeof southernCentral
tique. Taxon21: 113-114. America:Distribution and ecologicalspecificity.Biotro-
Gentry,A. H. 1972. The type species of Bignonia L. pica 8: 117-131.
Taxon21: 659-664. Gentry, A. H. 1976. AdditionalPanamanianPassiflora-
Gentry, A. H. 1973. Studies in BignoniaceaeVII. Den- ceae. Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.63: 341-345.
drosicus,Enallagma, and Amphitecna. Taxon22: 637- Gentry,A. H. 1976. Relationshipsof the Madagascar
640. Bignoniaceae:A striking case of convergent evolution.
Gentry,A. H. 1973. Generic delimitationsof Central PI. Syst.Evol. 126: 255-266.
AmericanBignoniaceae.Brittonia 25: 226-242. Dodson,C. H. & A. H. Gentry.1977. Epiphyllum phyl-
Gentry, A. H. 1973. Rafflesiaceae.In: Flora ofPanama. lanthus(L.) Haw. (Cactaceae) and its allies in Ecuador.
Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.60: 17-21. Selbyana2: 30-31.
Gentry, A. H. 1973. A new species of Proteaceaefrom Dodson,C. H. & A. H. Gentry.1977. New species in the
Panama. Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.60: 571-572. Urticaceaeand SapindaceaefromtheRfoPalenqueSci-
Gentry, A. H. 1973. Schlegeliacostaricensis: A familial ence Center,Ecuador.Selbyana2: 64-66.
transfer to Boraginaceae.Phytologia26: 67-68. Gentry, A. H. 1977. Endangeredplantspecies and hab-
Gentry,A. H. 1973. Studies in BignoniaceaeIX: New itatsof Ecuadorand AmazonianPeru. Pp. 136-149 in
species ofDendrosicusand Pachyptera.Phytologia26: G. Prance & T. Elias, Extinctionis Forever.New York
438-450. BotanicalGarden,Bronx,New York.
Gentry, A. H. 1973 [1974]. Bignoniaceae.In: Flora of Gentry,A. H. 1977. A new Jacaranda (Bignoniaceae)
Panama. Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.60: 781-997. fromEcuador and Peru. Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.63:
Gentry, A. H. 1974. Floweringphenologyand diversity 138-139.
in tropicalBignoniaceae.Biotropica6: 64-68. Gentry, A. H. 1977. Phyllarthron bilabiatum:A newspe-
Gentry, A. H. 1974. Studiesin BignoniaceaeXI: A syn- cies of BignoniaceaefromMadagascar.Ann. Missouri
opsis of the genusDistictis.Ann. MissouriBot. Gard. Bot. Gard.64: 139-141.
61: 494-501. Gentry,A. H. 1977. New species of Gibsoniothamnus
Gentry, A. H. 1974. Studies in BignoniaceaeXII: New (Scrophulariaceae/Bignoniaceae) and Tournefortia (Bor-
or noteworthy species ofSouthAmericanBignoniaceae. aginaceae) fromeasternPanama and the Choc6. Ann.
Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.61: 872-885. MissouriBot. Gard.64: 133-135.
Gentry,A. H. 1974. Key to the generaof Guatemalan Gentry, A. H. 1977. Botanicalexplorationof CerroTa-
Bignoniaceae.In: Standley& L. Williams,Bignonia- carcuna.ExplorersJ. 55: 40-45.
ceae in Flora of Guatemala.Fieldiana, Bot. 24(10): Gentry, A. H. 1977. Studies in Bignoniaceae25: New
155-158. species and combinations in SouthAmericanBignoni-
Gentry, A. H. 1974. Coevolutionary patternsin Central aceae. Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.64: 311-319.
AmericanBignoniaceae.Ann. MissouriBot. Gard. 61: Gentry,A. H. 1977. Studies in Bignoniaceae26: New
726-759. taxa and combinations in northwestern SouthAmerican
Gentry, A. H. 1974. Gibsoniothamnus (Scrophulariaceae) Bignoniaceae.Phytologia34: 183-198.
in Panama. Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.61: 533-537. Gentry, A. H. 1977. New species of Leguminosae,Lau-
Gentry, A. H. 1974. Noteson PanamanianApocynaceae. raceae, and Monimiaceae,and new combinationsin
Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.61: 891-900. BignoniaceaefromwesternEcuador. Selbyana2: 39-
Gentry, A. H. & P. H. Raven. 1974. The MissouriBotan- 45.
ical Garden.PI. Sci. Bull. 20: 34-38. Gentry, A. H. 1977. Notes on Middle AmericanBigno-
Gentry, A. H. 1975. Humiriaceae.In: Flora of Panama. niaceae. Rhodora79: 430-444.
Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.62: 35-44. Gentry,A. H. 1977. New recordsof Apocynaceaefor
Gentry, A. H. 1975. Bignoniacrucigera:A case of mis- Panama and the Choc6. Ann. MissouriBot. Gard. 64:
takenidentity. Taxon24: 121-123. 320-323.
440 Annals of the
Gentry, A. H. 1977. Bignoniaceae.In: Flora of Ecuador fromthe Choc6 and AmazonianPeru. Ann. Missouri
7: 1-172. Bot. Gard.68: 112-121.
Dodson, C. H. & A. H. Gentry.1978. Heliconias(Mu- Gentry, A. H. 1981. Distributional patternsand an ad-
saceae) of the Rfo Palenque Science Center,Ecuador. ditionalspecies ofthePassif/ora vitifoliacomplex:Am-
Selbyana2: 291-299. azonianspecies diversity due to edaphicallydifferenti-
Dodson, C. H. & A. H. Gentry.1978. Flora of the Rfo ated communities. P1. Syst.Evol. 137: 95-105.
Palenque Science Center.Selbyana4: i-xxx; 1-628. Gentry,A. H. 1981. Inventariofloristico de Amazonia
Gentry,A. H. 1978. Diversidadee regeneragaoda ca- Peruana: Estado y perspectivasde Conservaci6n.Pp.
poeira do INPA, com referenciaespecial as Bignonia- 36-44 in T. Gutferrez G. (editor),SeminariosobreProy-
ceae. Acta Amazonica8: 67-70. ectos de Investigaci6n Ecol6gicapara el Manejo de los
Gentry,A. H. 1978. Floristicknowledgeand needs in Recursos NaturalesRenovables del Bosque Tropical
PacificTropicalAmerica.Brittonia30: 134-153. Hdmedo.Direcci6nGeneralForestaly de Fauna, Min-
Gentry,A. H. 1978. Bignoniaceae.In: BotanyoftheGua- isteriode Agricultura, Lima.
yana Highland.Mem.N.Y. Bot. Gard. 29: 245-283. Gentry, A. H. 1981. New species ofMyristicaceae, Com-
Gentry,A. H. 1978. Buxaceae. In: FloraofPanama.Ann. bretaceae,and Urticaceaefromcoastal Colombiaand
MissouriBot. Gard.65: 5-8. Ecuador.Phytologia 48: 233-237.
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Brazil.Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.65: 725-735. westSouthAmericaand southernCentralAmericaas
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Gentry, A. H. 1979. Extinction and conservation ofplant Gentry, A. H. 1982. Bignoniaceae.In: Flora de Veracruz
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noniaceae.Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.66: 778-787. Emmons, L. H. & A. H. Gentry.1983. Tropicalforest
Gentry, A. H. & A. S. Tomb. 1979. Taxonomicimplica- structure and thedistribution ofglidingand prehensile-
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niaceae. Bot. Not. 132: 475-482. de Venezuela,Caracas.
Kinzey,W. H. & A. H. Gentry.1979. Habitatutilization Gentry, A. H. 1983. Plagioceltis(Ulmaceae)-A super-
in twospecies ofCallicebus.Pp. 89-100 in R. Sussman fluousgenus.Taxon32: 460.
(editor),PrimateEcology:Problem-oriented Field Stud- Gentry, A. H. 1983. A newcombination fora problematic
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Gentry,A. H. 1980. Studies in Bignoniaceae37: New Gard.70: 205.
species of BignoniaceaefromeasternSouthAmerica. Gentry, A. H. 1983. Alstonia(Apocynaceae):Another Pa-
Phytologia 46: 201-215. laeotropicalgenus in CentralAmerica.Ann. Missouri
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and Tourrettieae).Flora NeotropicaMonograph No. 25. Gentry, A. H. 1983. Dispersal and distribution in Big-
1-150. noniaceae. Sonderb. Naturwiss.VereinsHamburg7:
Gentry, A. H. 1980. The Flora of Peru: A conspectus. 187-199.
Fieldiana,Bot. n.s. 5 1-11. Gentry, A. H. 1983. Dispersal ecologyand diversity in
Gentry, A. H. 1980. New species of Apocynaceae,Big- neotropicalforestcommunities.Sonderb. Naturwiss.
noniaceae,Passifloraceae,and Piperaceaefromcoastal VereinsHamburg7: 303-314.
Colombiaand Ecuador.Phytologia 47: 97-107. Gentry, A. H. 1983. Lianas and the "paradox"of con-
Gentry,A. H. 1980. Sabiaceae. In: FloraofPanama.Ann. trasting latitudinalgradientsin woodand litterproduc-
MissouriBot. Gard.67: 949-964. tion.TropicalEcology24: 63-67.
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increasedfloodingofthe UpperAmazon.Science 210: Ecuador:Inga jaunechensis(Leguminosae)and Annona
1354-1356. hystricoides (Annonaceae).Phytologia54: 475-478.
Gentry, A. H. 1981. New species and a newcombination Gentry, A. H. 1984. Klainedoxa (Irvingiacae)at Mako-
in Palmae,Araliaceae,Apocynaceae,and Bignoniaceae kou, Gabon: Three sympatricspecies in a putatively
1996
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ApocynaceaefromPeru and adjacentAmazonia.Ann. geographicpatterns.Proc. of 1st simposiodo Tropico
MissouriBot. Gard.71: 1075-1081. Humedo,Belem,Brazil2: 19-35.
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est. Pp. 254-255 in D. Chiras,Environmental Science. picos: Implicacionesen la conservaci6ndel medionat-
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Gentry, A. H. 1984. An overviewof neotropicalphyto- oilseed fromAmazonianPeru. Econ. Bot.40: 177-185.
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1984. Tabebuiaserratifolia (Vahl)Nicholson,ipA-amar- Gentry,A. H. & C. H. Dodson. 1987. Contribution of
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do Brasil.Atas Soc. Bot. Brasil,secc. Rio de Janeiro2: tropica19: 149-156.
77-80. Gentry, A. H. & C. H. Dodson. 1987. Diversityand bio-
Gentry,A. H. & K. Cook. 1984. Martinella(Bignonia- geography ofneotropicalvascularepiphytes.Ann.Mis-
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J. Ethnopharmacology 11: 337-343. Gentry, A. H. & L. H. Emmons.1987. Geographical vari-
Forero,E. & A. H. Gentry.1984. New phanerogam spe- ation in fertilityand compositionof the understory of
cies fromChoc6,Colombia.Phytologia 55: 365-371. neotropicalforests.Biotropica19: 216-227.
Dodson, C. H., A. H. Gentry& F. M. Valverde. 1985. Gentry, A. H. & J. Steyermark.1987. A revisionofDi-
Flora of Jauneche,Los Rios, Ecuador. Banco Central lodendron(Sapindaceae).Ann. MissouriBot. Gard.74:
del Ecuador,Quito. 533-538.
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SouthAmericanspecies ofBignoniaeae.Phytologia 57: de nombresvernacularesen los inventarios forestales
240-248. de la AmazoniaPeruana.Rev. For.Per. 14: 109-120.
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Gentry, A. H. & G. AymardC. 1993. A new species of Theoryand Practice.OxfordUniv.Press,New York.
Styloceras(Buxaceae) fromPeru. Novon3: 142-144.
Gentry, A. H. & R. OrtizS. 1993. Patronesde Compos-
Worksby Gentryin Press or in Preparation
ici6n Florfsticaen la AmazoniaPeruana.Pp. 155-166
in R. Kalliola,M. Puhakka& W.Danjoy(editors), Ama- Arrabidaeaharleyi,a new species of Bignoniaceaefrom
zoniaPeruana-Vegetaci6nHumedaTropicalen el Lla- Bahia. Hook.,Icones P1.
no Subandino.PAUT y ONERN, Jyvaskyla. Bignoniaceae.In Gardensof Hawaii.
Keel, S., A. H. Gentry& L. Spinzi. 1993. Using vege- Flora of Capeira and the GuayaquilRegion. Banco Na-
tationanalysisto facilitatetheselectionofconservation cional,Quito.[WithC. Dodson.]
sites in easternParaguay.Conservation Biol. 7: 66-75. Roundtableon TropicalForests.Bioscience.[WithC. Pe-
ParkerIII, T. A., A. H. Gentry, R. B. Foster,L. H. Em- ters& R. Mendelsohn.]
mons& J. V. Rensen,Jr. 1993. The LowlandDryFor- Bignoniaceae.In: Flora de Nicaragua.
444 Annals of the
Apocynaceae.In: Florade Nicaragua tunities.In: K. Mejia (editor).HAP Symposium Volume.

Humiriaceae.In: Florade Nicaragua. Iquitos.
Passifloracea.In: Florade Nicaragua. Species richnessand floristiccompositionofChoc6region
Bignoniaceae.In: Florade San Juan. plantcommunities: An update.In: P. Leyva(editor).Co-
Bignoniaceae.In: Floraof the VenezuelanGuayana. lombia Una miradaal Pacffico.
Bignoniaceae.In: Florade Colombia. A revisionof Gibsoniothamnus L 0. Williams(Bignonia-
Amazonianplantdiversity and endemism:The conserva- ceae-Schlegelieae).[WithK. Barringer.]
tionalsignificanceof B-diversityand explosivespecia- Diversidad Florstica Neotropica:tamahioy estudio de
tion.In: G. Prance(editor).Proc. ManausWorkshop on consen-aci6nde la flora.In: R. Dirzo. D. Piniero& M.
AmazonianConservation. T K. Arrovo(editors).Naturalesen AmericaLatina-
Biodiversitvof PeruvianAmazonia Problemsand oppor- Bignoniaceae.In: Florade Paraguay.
Figure2 Gentryin his officeat the MissounBotanicalGardenin 1993.

83, NI'nber4
Vokmne Haid
Alwyn Gentr: A T obute 445
1996
GRADuATE SlTuD s SuPERViUsD BY GENTRY (wrm Higb-AndmiFoest in Peru.Ms UiEMsty

TMESh TmE) of M u ,ri-& IAUS, 1990.
Gmclza ThDwSmice, S.steti Anary df Te-
He..7 Rodriguez M.S., m University,1977 Ide- -~e (f ) jMS. y oud-S
gpeenotcmqul
MichaelZimernuan,Analysisofthe Rp tiveStnt- RichIar I, e Biof dE uic 1ica imothe
egy of Peoewmosnmin CAlmxadkx PhLD.,WAhingoon Wadelfat, a RefictLopgU4 limeSsvn.MS, Uni-
1979.
Uniwersity, va`tof I Ai, 1991.
David Lorence,A Systmic mndE..lwIi Y Study Oliver mips, C ie M f a Fwet,
of the M mieim in the 1Magy Regio. PLD,
1980.
Wmbin;o University,
F l Ayla, NO dtesis , Un t,
Curret ds (at i death):
ValerieK _ An EI c Il h S Bad Bl h UNOWu. ner
in TwoTropicalForsts. P)ID, University, r MickRichadson
1982 Im Marsh, a Univsmty(l d Rh
Car B dba, Revisi6n de la Secei6m Cui-
ladu (Zyi Bmne del G~eoPheeo Calo. Reynel,Universityf Mkeowri-S Les_ Received
his PD. urP. Mick Rir, SIgoIc, if
MSi, Uversd 4
Naioal de Cabia, 1eCm (Cb.
Netqc Z* I (Rarewm) wit - Acoun
directedwithEiqe Fore.(.) as the WaEAnafti" of the Genus, h.D., Unierit
Clemet Niumibo.., An EcosysematicStudymudRevision of Mi.i A.Lois, JaUary 199.
of aPsydwia SubgenusPsdaoia (Rtbiacea)
A in Mc- H , Wa Uniiy t - -
oo~~~~~~~~~
ico,and Ceuirltnd eia -I
hDWshntnUist ron
I I_ U
der F Nick Ri cAd
195& hvdnRonfez,Unvrst LAis. Received
f MimNmuri-St.
D1nd Fabm-Lumdoem, C _mbingCmservgim.mid br FLD. u Fr: Nick RicF m, SI----cs, hby-
Forestyin a Colombim.RaiFn -AnEAgcal As- l .,_d CuMNwIwMNumber _ is urn
am PhD., Saint Louis IUniersity 1)9. tAm(ImB lAomJune 1996.
Ricardo,RKea, RevisionoftheGemo C k (e-
beaee) in Meoi_ MS, Uniest ofMias der Pa Berry
ri-St.Imis, 19f9. Smi8 d Ev.biiomaf theGe-
- Peuica, P.D., Unie of Missouri-St.Lis,
1993. -Jamies S. Milleu MissouriBowanicalGardn, SL
Washino Gaiano, The Floa of Yanacocha,a Tropical Louis, Missouri.
Fipur
3. Goty nd fiend in
446 Annals of the
THE MEMORIAL SERVICE niques to carrythemout, and some supportfrom

the Departmentof Nuclear Engineering.It all fit
It was mypleasureto be Al Gentry's firstteacher together nicely,and it led Al intoa careerin sys-
in theworldofbotany.Al was bornand grewup in tematicbotany.
Clay Center,Kansas, a small townin the north- Al graduatedfromKansas State Universityin
centralpart of the state. He graduatedfromthe June 1967, withtwo degrees,a Bachelor of Arts
Clay Centerhighschoolin 1963, and as is common and a BachelorofScience,bothmagna cumlaude.
in thatpartoftheworld,he came thatfallto Kansas He was capable, articulate, readytotalkaboutany-
State University in Manhattan,Kansas. He arrived thing,perhaps a bit ornery,and obviouslygoing
withsuperbrecommendations, forhe had been re- places in systematicbotany.We at Kansas State
gardedas a brilliantstudentin highschool.Al was assistedin sendinghimto thegraduateprogram at
notsurewhathe shouldstudyin college,butbeing theUniversity ofWisconsin,to workwithProfessor
a capable boy in a small towncarriedcertainas- Hugh Iltis,and, as maybe said, "The restis his-
sumptions,and one was thathe should major in tory."
physics.Al tookcourses in physicsand did very Some yearsago, a fellowwho had just returned
well; he also did well in chemistry and molecular froma stintin the tropicscame to the Herbarium
biology,wherefora while he had an undergrad at Kansas State,and he brought withhima sack of
studentjob in a laboratory. He was interestedin mangoes.We sat at the lunch table and chopped
anthropology, but he earned a "B" in an anthro- up the mangoes and ate them. Somebodysaid,
pologycourseand so concludedthatanthropology "Hey, taste this one-it REALLY is good," and
was nothis field. sure enough,thatone mangowas trulyexcellent.
Al was associatedwiththethen-popular "honors One oftheOld-Headstheresaid, "Thereis a funny
program," and thereis whereI made his acquain- thingabout mangoes,foronce you finda really
tance. He was a partof an honorsseminargroup good one, you will rememberit forever,and you
thatwas centeredon tropicalbiology,the role of will spend yearssearchingand waitingforanother
the tropics,and relatedmatters.In the course of one thatis as good."Al Gentry was ourGoodMan-
the term,he and I began to talk about plants,he go. We lookforward and waitforanothergoodman-
began to hang out in the Herbarium,and he be- go,orforanotherAl Gentry.-Theodore M. Barkley,
came fascinatedwithwhatplanttaxonomists do. Kansas State University
Studentswhowerejuniorsin thehonorsprogram
were encouragedto take on an "honorsproject,"
and especiallya projectthatrelatedto some on- On November21, 1966, I gota letterfromone
goingresearchprogram in theUniversity.Al looked Al Gentry, a seniorat Kansas State University in
intothe Herbariumfora possible honorsproject, Manhattan,who informed me thathis botanypro-
and particularlyfor one that mightinvolve his fessor,TheodoreBarkley,suggestedthathe might
backgroundin the physicalsciences. At thattime, like todo graduateworkwithme in Wisconsin,that
Kansas Statehad a programto studyradiationand he had a G.P.A. of 3.9 and . . . "do we have a fel-
radiationshieldingthatwerea partofnuclearpow- lowship"forhim?I wrotehimrightawayand said
er plants,and therewas a radiationshieldinglab- thatwould Mr. Barkleywriteme a letteroutlining
oratoryin the rollinghills just a fewmileswestof all his sins and virtues,and forhimto tellme what
town.The people who directedthe researchat the he was interestedin: the tropics?Wisconsinflo-
sitewereinterested in learningiftheradiationfrom ristics?a summerin Costa Rica? whatever?Three
thesite affectedthenearbybiota,so Al formulated days came the reply,in Gentry'sverysmall hand-
a projectwhereinhe collected plants,identified writing:"I have enclosed a copy of the personal
them,mapped theirdistributions on the site, and essay thatI wroteforthe WoodrowWilsonFellow-
comparedhis data to those fromundisturbedor ship,I thinkitwillcoverall ofyourquestions,even
non-radiatedtall grass prairie.The resultswere thoughDr. Barkleyabout flippedthe numberof
presentedas his honorsseminar,but as he was 'I(s)' in thisessay,thereare lots of 'I(s)' in there."
wrappingup his work,he wonderediftheradiation Indeed,AlwynGentrydid nothide his capabil-
caused the observabledifferences in plant distri- ities, then or later.Nevertheless,this was a very
butions,or if the differences were attributable to interesting essay,six pages long and exceptionally
disturbancesfromthe construction of the site. He wellwritten. To him,firstofall, thebeautyofnature
could notsolve thatparticularquestion,buthe had and the stimulation ofscience werehis chiefintel-
done someresearchon his ownthatinvolveda de- lectualconcerns:"I need tobe outofdoorsas much
finableproblem,a clear set ofprocedures, thetech- as possible,just to be close to the sheerbeautyof
Vokume83, Number4 AlwynHoward Gentry:A Tribte 447
1996
thenaturalworld... to feelthemysterious perfec-

tionofthe orgasms, thehowand thewhy.""Bot-
any,intellectually, is pleasingto me because ofits
greatemphasison evolutionand ever since I have
been a preschoolerI have been a taxonomistat
heart."
His second consideration, he writes,"is myde-
sire for physical adventurewith tropicalplants,
tropicalfieldtrips,thechance to be awayfromciv-
ilizationexploing little-known junglesand discov-
eringexoticnew species."
But then,also, in a totalswitch,"I feel a very
stong desireto be something morethanjust a sci-
entist.... I wantto be able to jusiy the impor-
tance ofmy workto myselfand others,and as a
college teacherI wantto stimulateothersto ques-
tionwhytheyare studentsand considertheirdebt
to society."
Now,I am a bit of a moralistmyselfand, as an
old envir list,I have foughtmanyan envi-
romental battle.But now here comes this young
mOnfromthe flatandsof Kansas, thisboy,barely
21 yearsold, writing a professorin theflalads of
Wisconsin,not onlyabout physicaladventuresin
little-known jungles away fromcivilization(that
alone wouldpique myinterest), butalso professing
there,for one so young,quite astonishingsenti-
ments. Figre 4. Gentryon CerroTacarcunaalong the Pan-
And yet,at theveryend he r n to his main amaCoomnbiaboder Gentry conductedthefirst
botanical
theme:"The collectingand fieldstudyof tropical expkoiion ofthemountainin 1975 and discoveredmany
plantsalso presentsthe challengeof physicalad- new species.
venturein topical jungles.... The mystery and ex-
citementof unknownplaces excitesme verymuch,
beyondanythingelse. lAnd now,get this!] After the environmentalignorance of their stodgy teach-
receivingmydoctoratedegree,I hopeto reevaluate ers. The chancellorsat throughthe whole thing,
the whole taxonomicsystemnow in use so as to and looked like had been eatingsour apples. Af-
give it a betterportrayal of trueevolutionary rela- teards, Al was introducedto me, a thinyoung
tionships." man, pale, hungry-looking, intense,and, I felt,
WhenI read this,I said to myself, "My God," I somewhatuptight,and very,very ambitious.He
mean, who does he thinkhe is? What have you liked the speech. And so it came about that Al
done, Ted Barkley,to thisinnocentkid? I showed Gentrychose the University of Wisconsinto be-
Gentry'sletterand fellowshipapplicationto Paul come mygraduatestudent.And whenhe firstvis-
Allen, our Chairman,who scribbledon the top of ited Madisonfora week in Juneof 1967, we ar-
it the understatement of the year "Thbischap has rangedfor him to take the OTS in Costa Rica,
possibilities!" which,forone whowasn'teven a studentyetat the
Well,I finallydid meetup withthisWunderkind, UW, was veryunusual. But somehowwe finagled
when,arrangedbyBarkley,I gave a speechat Kan- travelmoneyforhim to get to the tropics,finally,
sas State on April6, 1967 (1tis, H. It 1969. A and the restis history
requiemforthepraine.Priri Naturalist1(4): 51- I need to add heresomething abouthis lettersof
57), withGentryin the audience. In that rather recommendation.According to Proi Lloyd Hulbert,
inflammatory talk,I urgedthe studentsin Manhat- Al was "exceptionallyintelligent, amongthe most
tan to become evironmentalactivists,to fightfor giftedstudents"he has ever had but ". . . careless
a seriesof 1-million-acre PrairieNationalParks,to in the minordetails in his work,because in fact
stage "UC Berkeley"protestson agricultural cam- thisis theresultofthefeelingthatsuch thing are
puses to forceintellectualchange,to revoltagainst unimportant for him to bother[with]in the big
448 Annals of the
schemeof things."And thisis of coursethe para- In the meantime,thatfall, he broughta lovely

doxicalglory, in a way,ofmuchofAl Gentry's work. younglady to Madison,his childhoodsweetheart,
That he saw the big pictureand became thisfine Julie. ProfessorLenn Thien and his wife and I
taxonomistand global ecologist.Ted Barkley,his threwan engagement partyforthem,a veryinter-
majoradvisor,wrotethat,"If thereis one wordto estingaffairas it turnedout, because theywere
criticizehim it would be thathe is perhapsover bothso shy.I boughtsomebottlesofchampagneto
confidentor even somewhatconceited.However, loosen thingsup a little.I thinkAl came froma
thismaybe onlya naturalproductofbeinga bril- "drycounty"in Kansas thatdidn'tpermitalcohol,
liantand competent youngman." and my strategy didn'twork:theyhardlytouched
Well,I had otherproblemsin thatfall of 1967, the stuff,and bothjust sat there,totallyserious,
I gotdivorced,that'salwaysdifficult, therewas al- shylylookingat each other,forthreewhole long
ways somethinggoing on; in short,I didn't pay hours,no matterhowmanyjokes I cracked.
much attentionto Al. But he got all A's the first So, thatChristmas, rightafterAl graduatedwith
semester,and he gotall A'sagainthenextsemester. his master'sdegree,the couple gotmarried,tooka
Whilevisitingus thatJune,Al was lookingfora quick honeymoon tripto Costa Rica and Panama
researchproject.I wrotemyfriend,Russ Seibert, to collectmoreplants,and thenoffintothe Army.
a graduateof the MissouriBotanicalGarden,and By April 7, 1969, he was in FortLeonardWood,
thenDirectorof LongwoodGardensin Pennsylva- Missouri,a littlebit later in FortSill, Oklahoma,
nia, who once upon a timestudiedBignoniaceae, wherehis wifeby thenhad joined him.Eventually
and asked himifhe or anybodyelse was nowwork- he endedup at Officer's Schoolin FortBelvoirnear
ingwiththisfamily. And whenhe said "no," I sug- Washington,and, on completion,was offereda
gestedto Al thathe mighthave a look at it once commissionas a second lieutenant.But this pro-
he gotto Costa Rica. motionhe turneddown,forseveralreasons;in any
Well,as manyof you know,Al fell in love with case, he did not wantto go to Vietnam.By then,
the Bignoniaceae.He startedto workon a revision we were all writinglettersto the militarythatAl
of CentralAmericanTabebuiain thespringsemes- had to supporthis widowedmother,and also that
terof 1968, workedveryfastand furious,and soon he was needed to teach botanyin Madison. And
toldme in no uncertaintermsthathe's goingto be so, not any too soon,we got him out of the Army
donewithhis master'sthesisbytheend ofthesum- and back intobotany.
mer.That declarationcaused our firstbig blowup. It was nowthe summerof 1970, and Al was un-
I toldhimthat,"At UW,it takestwoyears,so there decided whetherto returnto the UW or not.It all
is no wayyou can do it in one." "Oh yes, I can." dependedon gettinga fellowship.To make a long
"Oh no, you can't." I mean,I said, "I am the pro- storyshort,he was bribed(I hateto putit thisway)
fessorhere and youare the student[geniusor not], by WalterLewis of the MBG to come to Missouri,
and it takes timeto writea good thesis."But any- withmoneywe could barelyequal. Aftermanylet-
bodywhoeverknewAl Gentrymayappreciatethat ters, back and forth,about the needed support,
confrontation; he was enormously stubborn,abso- Walterthenofferedhim not onlya fellowshipbut
lutelyconfident thatwhateverhe wantedto do he also travel funds, apparently"unlimitedtravel
was goingto do it. Well,I have similarattributes, funds"is whathe promised.That did it! I didn't
and I was older,whichhad its advantages.So, in- believe it,butwhatelse could I do exceptwishAl
stead, thatsummerwe shippedhim offto Miami, well? In retrospect, it was a good decision.It was
Florida,to takea tropicalbotanycourse.In thefall timeforus to part.
of 1968, he was reallygoingat his Tabebuia,fin- Let me wrapup thissad dutywitha notethatI
ished his thesisin recordtime,and by Christmas, wroteto thelibraryhere,and to PeterRaven: I am
finallygot his master'sdegree in plant taxonomy. givinga set of all my25 yearsof correspondence
But Al, fromearlyon, was also an ecologist,and withAl Gentryto the MBG library,sendingit to
theveryfirstpaperhe everpublished,forOTS and theplace wherehe notonlyearnedhis Ph.D. deal-
while still at Wisconsin,was a comparisonof leaf ing withhis belovedtrumpet vine family,
but also
shapes betweendryand wetforestsin Costa Rica. wherehe was able to reallyspread his wingsand
But ominouseventswereaboutto overtakehim. learn to flylike a botanicalJonathanLivingston
The warin Vietnamwas in fullswing,people were Seagull; thatis, do impossiblyproductivefeatsin
gettingdrafted, includingAl. We talkeda lot about all too shorta life.Fate was verykindto thisbril-
thisbecause he did notbelieve in thewar,did not liant,complexand contradictory man,whonotonly
reallyfeel thathe would like to collect plantsin escaped by hair's breadthbeing sent to Vietnam
Vietnam,at least notunderthosecircumstances! and possiblydeath, but who, were it not forthe
1996
tolerance,or wisdom,of the Missouri Botanical in qualityas well as mass. I perhapsdwelltoolong

Gardenmightwell have suffered the fateof many on Al the Ph.D. student,but I thinkthatwhathe
anothermaverickbiologicalgenusand disappeared accomplishedthenepitomizedwhathe was to do
somewhereintorelativeobscurity. But the lives of in the future:his greatinterestin plantsas inter-
Gentry, perhapsthegreatesttropicalecotaxonomist, active partsof complexecosystems,his acute ob-
and Peter Raven, arguablythe greatestbotanical servationalpowersrarelyifeverlostfromhis mem-
organizer,intersectedin theirplanetaryorbitsjust ory bank, and last, but not least, his abilityto
at exactlytherighttime,in 1972 orso, shortly after impartthisknowledgewithclarityofthought. Such
Raven became Directorof the Gardenand Gentry aspectswereclear to me and othermembersofhis
needed a permanentposition,a platformfrom committee whenAl graduatedin Decemberof1972
whenceto take off. to take up his positionas a curatorat the Missouri
And now, all too soon, we mournAl Gentry's BotanicalGarden.
untimelydeath and our greatloss. Whatcould he I mustadd one anecdoteaboutAl's dissertation
nothave accomplishedin thenext20 years!There knownto veryfew,exceptJulieand perhapstheir
will not be anotherone like him in our lifetime, children,and one whichgraduatestudentsin par-
and we are all gratefulforwhathe has givento the ticularmightappreciate,forpitfallsbefelleven Al
world.And we mustalso say thanks,finally, to Pe- Gentrywhen he was a student.Quotingfromhis
terRaven and to theMissouriBotanicalGardenfor letterto me ofJune30, 1972, he said, "I feelthere
puttingup withand supporting, thisdrivenand dif- mustbe a cloud ofbad luck hoveringoverme: the
ficult small-townKansas boy, who fromgrade [original]copyofthethesisI had withme was sto-
school on yearnedforexcitementand dreamedof len alongwitha suitcasefullof clothesin Copen-
adventure,and foundmore,finally, thanhe could hagen [Al was visitingEuropeanherbariaexamin-
have ever hoped for.-Hugh H. Iltis, University of ing types of Bignoniaceae].Now withthe fireat
Wisconsin Summit,I mayreallybe wipedout[referring to the
Garden'sherbariumand livingquartersin the old
Panama Canal Zone whereAl was actingcurator
Al Gentry'sinterestin theBignoniaceaewas kin- while doinghis fieldwork, whichburnedwhileAl
dled while at the University of Wisconsin.It was was in Europe].I'll let youknowas soon as we get
duringthistime,in the fall of 1968, whenhe was back to Summitwhetheryou'vestillgota terminal
completingpartsof his thesis at the Smithsonian grad studentor one who is moreor less starting
thatI firstmetthisenthusiastic
Institution, and en- over again.... Believe me we've got our fingers
ergeticstudentof plant biology.Thanks to Hugh crossed." Well,it turnedout thatAl did not have
Iltis's manystoriesof St. Louis, some greatand to redo his research,forthe onlycarboncopysur-
some notso greatbutundoubtedly absolutelytrue, vived the firein a file cabinet withonly limited
we werefortunate enoughto bringAl herein 1969 waterand smokedamage,but it had to be retyped
at typicalwarpdriveeven then.I feel certainthat by Julie;remember, thiswas the age beforecom-
Al wouldhaverevisedthewhole112 generaofBig- puters.
noniaceae if some brakeshad notbeen put on his Over the yearsAl's interestin teachingand di-
Ph.D. researchscope. Even so, usingdetailedeco- rectinggraduatestudents'researchexpandedwith
logicalstudiesofmostlynewdata on edaphiclimits his career.He was deeply committed to our aca-
of distribution,floralphenology, floralmorphology,demicprogram in biologyat Washington University
pollinators,and fruiting strategies,his systematic as well as later at the University of Missouri-St.
treatment includeda detailedanalysisof no fewer Louis. Wheneverpossible he participatedin our
than85 CentralAmericanspecies. A studyof the facultymeetingsas an AdjunctProfessorin Biol-
familyand a numberoflittle-usedtaxonomicchar- ogy,buthis greatercontribution came withhis ded-
acters,apparentonlyfromfieldobservations, were icationto graduatestudentsseriouslyinterested in
also incorporated intohi'sdissertationin arrivingat plantsystematics and ecology.Al taughtthemwell
systematic and phylogenetic conclusions. individuallyand throughhis twocourses,"Phyto-
The dissertation was 769 pages long,plus 184 geography" and "Structure & Composition ofTrop-
full-pagedfigures:withouthard coversit weighed ical Forests,"and a seminarin FloristicTaxonomy,
9-3/4poundsand was 4-1/2inchesthick.Lest you one I developedmanyyearsago, whichAl contin-
think we only weigh and measure dissertations ued to give fromthe 1970s on. When not in the
when awardingdegreesat Washington University, field,he was availableforin-depthdiscussionsand
be assured thatat least in Al's case his research reviewsofclassworkand research,and he gave his
did indeed involveextraordinary scholarship,both timefreelyfordetermining specimensto genusand
450 Annals of the
Figurea. Schunkein Tocache Nuev-o.Peru. in 19,9.

Gentry%ithJose6
species. even veryincompleteones. withamazing Al Gentrvsdeath shocked the scientificcorn-

skill and speed. This does notsuggestthatAl en- munitv. This is shownin a messageI receivedfrom
joyed beingpestered.especiallyby thosewho did Dr. ArianeLuna Peixotoof the UniversidadeFed-
not learn afterthe firstor second attempt.forAl eral Rural do Rio de Janeiro.Brazil. one of Al's
did not -sufferfoolsgladly. closest friendsin Latin America.She savs: -For
An aspect of our association.whichwill not be Brazilianbotanists.particularly those workingon
foundin ourprofessional curriculum vitaes.is that the Atlanticcoastal forests.thepassingof Al Gen-
we belongedto the same undergraduate fraternity.trvconstitutesa source of undescribablesorrow.
Alpha Tau Omega. I mentionthisfortworeasons: Gentrvwas our friendand our teacher.A devoted
first,because Al received at least one coveted teacherwhowouldteach us fromfarawaythrough
awardfromthe fraternity as an academicallytop his vervdetailedlettersas well as through his pub-
seniorat Kansas State. a factwhichcomes to no lications.and fromclose bv in our classroomsand
surpriseto anyonehere. and second. because it tropicalforests.Speakingin a mixtureof English.
provideda veryspecial link in our relationship Spanish. and Portuguese.in fieldtripsand in the
whichmeanta greatdeal to bothof us. classroom.he neverneglectedanything. He was al-
For his family,forhis associatesat Washington waysWillingto share his knowledge.For us Latin
University,the Missouri Botanical Garden. and Americans.he tookthemystery outofmanvthings.
elsewhere,and forme, Al's death is verymucha He showedus thatplantidentification in the field
compoundedloss, because we have lost notonlya can be simple and easy as long as you have the
friend,we have also lost a trulyexceptionalcol- commitment. as long as you develop the capacitv
league, who devotedhis life to the makingof a to observeand. above all. as longas youlove what
brighterand greenerplanetforhumanity.-Walter youare doing.He showedus thatphvtosociological
H. Lewis,Washingwn University samplingin tropicalforestscan be carriedout in a
1996
quick,efficient, and correctway,as longas youare He was extremely strongin thefield.I remember
willingto go beyondyourown physicalabilities. a timewhenAl, AndrewSugden(a Britishstudent),
He showedus thatinventories and phytosociology Douglas Daly,and myselfwerein Choco,exploring
are also taxonomictasksthatcan be used to great the foothillsof the littleknownCerroTorra.Basi-
advantagein monographic research.Al Gentry was callywithoutfoodwe traveledforhours,untilmost
a rolemodel.Withhis departure, we havea difficult ofus wereexhausted.Andrew,Doug,and I actually
butimportant taskbeforeus: totryourbesttoreach decided to give up our collecting.We sat downto
his level in our ownprofessional lives." restand to tryto recoverour strength. Al kepton
I knewAl duringhis entireprofessional career. going,and several hourslater came back having
We bothreceivedourPh.D.s in 1972. It was in late founda place forus to spend the night.We then
1972, duringthe AnnualSystematicsSymposium, were up until 2 a.m. pressingplants. Pressing
thatI methimherein St. Louis. At thattime,and plantsat nightwas something he seemed to enjoy.
at PeterRaven'ssuggestion, Al and I agreedto de- Even withour poor performance in the fieldthat
velop a jointresearchprojectin the Choc6 region day,we had managedto collectnearlytwohundred
of Colombia.It would be a cooperativeeffort be- numbers!
tweenthe MissouriBotanicalGardenand the In- To be sure, Al and I had manydifferences of
stituteof NaturalSciences of the NationalUniver- opinion.A couple of examplesof a fairlymildna-
sityin Bogota',whereI worked. turewill serveto illustratethispoint.
It didn'ttakelongforAl to showup in Colombia. One of the manypositiveresultsof our workin
Early in Januaryof 1973 I receiveda phone call Chocowas thepublicationofthe"ChocoChecklist"
fromSt. Louis. It was Al, tellingme thathe would (Forero& Gentry,1989). However,bringingthis
be in Bogota'in a couple ofdays (actually,on Jan- checklistto completionwas not an easy task be-
uary 5th. I was on vacation!),and thathe would cause, as we all know,Al was stubbornwhen it
like to be in the fieldin Choco, withme, by the came to taxonomicmatters.He would not accept,
6th! SomehowI managedto get plane ticketsfor forexample,the subdivisionof the genus Cassia
bothofus forthe6th.He arrivedon the5th,spent intothreegeneraas proposedbyIrwinand Barneby
the nightin myapartment, and we flewto Quibdo (1982). As someoneinterestedin the familyLegu-
the following day.We spentthe nextfivedays col- minosae,I was happywiththeirclassification. Al
lectingin centralChoco.This was thebeginningof wasn't.In the end I was forcedto give up and in-
what we consideredat the time one of the most clude all the pertinent species underCassia in or-
successfuljointprograms in botanicalresearchbe- der to see the checklistpublished.Not two days
tweena NorthAmericaninstitution and an insti- had passed since thechecklistwas publishedwhen
tutionin a developingcountry.Al and I were to- I receiveda letterfromRupertBarnebyaskingme
getherin thefieldin Colombiaperhapsas manyas ifwe wereout of touchwithtaxonomicliterature!
fivetimes.But theprogram lastedfortwelveyears. Al and I used to argue because he blamed me
Duringthis timewe providedtrainingforseveral forratingmystudentstoo high.Who did nothear
Colombianand U.S. students,helped establisha him say thathis studentswere all wonderful, the
herbariumin the city of Quibdo, initiatedsome best!?The truthis thatwe bothhad excellentstu-
small-scalefieldresearchby local botanists,col- dents.
lectedover17,000 numbers(morethan80,000 her- Our lives followedsomewhatdifferent but par-
barium specimens) betweenthe two of us, and allel paths.My life has been moredevotedto the
brought theattention ofthescientific community to administration of science. His was devotedto his
this poorlyknownbut extremelyrich region in research.I am glad thatI was able to contribute to
termsof biodiversity. his scientificaccomplishments as we workedto-
Al's eagernessto be in the fieldis well known. getherin Colombia.I am also gratefulforthe op-
He was not particularly interestedin public rela- portunities I had, as an administrator bothin Co-
tions,meetingpeople, or spendingtimein big cit- lombia and at the MissouriBotanical Garden,to
ies. He wantedto be in thefield.In fact,forat least help himin somewayto continueto fulfillhis sci-
the firsttwoyearsof his involvement in Colombia entificdream.But morethanthat,I am glad thatI
he seldomspentmorethana day in Bogota'.As a can remember himas a wonderful colleagueand as
result,no one at the ColombianNationalHerbari- a friend.
um knewhim.I had a hardtimeexplainingto my Literature Cited
colleaguesthatAl Gentryreallyexisted!Finally,I Forero, E. & A. Gentry.1989. Listaanotadade las plan-
decided to "kidnap"himfora fewdays so thathe tas del Departamento del Choc6,Colombia.Bibl. Jose
could meetthe local botanists. Jer6nimo Triana10: 1-142.
452 Annals of the
MassotriBotanical Garden
v~~~~~~~~~~ _.
FiWr 6. GentrywithRudolfoHindo and CharlesMyers,head of thedepartment of herpetology

at the American
Museumof NaturalHistory.unloadingequipmentat Yavza, Panama, on one of Gentry'sexpeditionsito the little
knownDarieL
Irwin,H. S. & R. Barnebv.1982. TheAmericanCassi- asked howmanypeopleknewthatthegreatesttrop-

inae.A synopticalrevisionofLeguminosae
TribeCas- ical biologistwho ever lived died in a plane acci-
sieaesubtribeCassiinaein theNewWorld.Mem.New
YorkBoLGard.35. parts1-2: 1-918. denttwodays ago, and about20 handswentup. I
trulybelievethatsays something terribleaboutour
-Enrique Forero,UniversidadNacional, Bogota, culture and who our heroes reallyare. We worship
Colombia sportsfiguresand politicians,and we have guys
like Al Gentry and Ted Parkerwhodon'tcare about
money,don'tcare aboutclothes-theyjust wantto
WhenI gavemyfirst at theMissouri maketheworlda betterplace. Whenpeople die in
presentation
BotanicalGardenin 1983. 1 showedsomeslides of the military it is said thattheygave theirlives for
medicinemenand said thatthesepeople can iden- theircountry, but whatdid Al and Ted give their
tifyeveryspecies in the forestwithoutlookingat lifefor?Theygave theirlives foreverybody and for
the fruitor the flowersand that no university- the planet.Theywerealwayspushingthe edge of
trainedbotanistcould everhope to do that.Almost the envelopeand theypaid forit withtheirlives.
beforeI was even finishedthis skinnyguy had Al and Ted wereheroesin an age withoutheroes.
come racingdownto the podium,shookmyhand, The mostincredibledisplayof biologicalexper-
said rm Al Gentryand I can do that.So I handed tise I have everseen was in a meetingat theWorld
hima pile ofthesemiserablesterilespecimensthat WildlifeFund abouteightyearsago. WWF had in-
the Indians had givenme: a piece of barkhere,a vited30 topscientiststo discuss Andeanpriorities.
piece ofleafthere,and withinminutesAl had iden- Despiteall thecharismatic megavertebrates around
tifiedeverything to species. the table,Al and Ted startedout in northern Ven-
I gave a talk at the AmericanHorticultural So- ezuela and walkeddownthe Andes peak by peak,
cietytwodays afterthe accident.I startedout by valleyby valley.This is top priority, thenarcosare
asking how manypeople knew thata basketball here forgetit. Nobody'sever been here,we have
playerdied a monthago of a heartattack,and al- got to go there.They made the restof these guys
mosteveryhand in the audience wentup. I then superfluous. In fact,it was humiliating to be a sci-
1996
entistin theroomwithTed and Al thatdaybecause withthe Garden--Washington Univer-

University,
if theyhad takenthoseother28 guysand pushed sityofMissouri-St.Louis,and St. Louis University.
themoutside,it wouldn'thave madeanydifference. Althoughas a researcherAl had been goingfull
Whentheydied, Russ Mittermeier said 75% ofthe steam ever since his undergraduatedays, as a
unpublishedinformation thatexists on the biodi- teacher his responsibilities were snowballing.
versityofAndeanforestswas lostwithTed and Al. Whenhe died he was supervising thesesbyno less
JimDuke justfinisheda bookon Amazonianeth- thannine students,and had recentlytaughtgrad-
nobotanywitha dedicationto Al thatI'd like to uate coursesin St. Louis and LatinAmerica(Peru
read: "Our book has been enhancedby the taxo- and Colombia).
nomic foundationprovidedby the arduous and Several qualities come to mindwhenI thinkof
intensiveperseveranceof the late Dr. Gentry.He Al Gentry theteacher,qualitiesthatmadehimtruly
would not restuntilhe named an unknownforest special. Therewas his tremendous enthusiasm, ex-
giant. . . .We respectfullybut sadly dedicate this citement,and knowledgeabout plantsand forests
small volumeto a fallen forestgiant,Al Gentry, thatdrewlike-mindedpeople to him.Al wentall
friendoftheforestand teacherto manyofus, trying over the world,botanizinglike a man possessed,
to save theforestthatsurviveshim.The Amazonian and tookstudentsin each country intothefieldwith
CenterforEnvironmental Educationand Research him.Here was someonewho could convinceeven
(ACEER) will dedicate their250,000-acre forest themostconfirmed urbaniteoftheessentialwonder
reserveto his memory.The forestthat kept him ofthe naturalworld.Duringthesefieldtripsit was
goinglike a robotswallowedhimup. But his spirit impossiblenot to be inspiredby his excitement,
lives on,and willhelp in thedifficultefforts
to save and so fromall overtheworldstudentscame to St.
theforestoftodayforthechildrenoftomorrow. Few Louis to learn fromAl Gentryand his colleagues
of us can view any attractivebignoniaceousvine here! Otherstudentscame to meetthe man whose
withoutrecallingthe etherealspiritof Al Gentry botanicalzeal theyhad onlyheard about through
and theforestshe represented. Longlive theforest someoftheGentrylegends.Ted Parkerused to tell
and spiritofAl Gentry"(Duke & Vasquez, 1994). the storyof how Al once fixedhis sightson col-
WhenI spokeat Ted Parker'sfuneralservicelast lectingan unusuallookingepiphyticbromeliad,20
weekend, I read a line fromTennyson:"Those metersup a tree.Climbingup, he put his hand in
whomthe gods love die young." it frombelow,and felta sharp pain. Cursingthe
I don'tknowifthe gods loved Al and Ted, butI spinyplant that he thoughthad prickedhim,he
sure did. puthis hand in again onlyto getit cut again.After
this happeneda fewtimes,eventuallyhe realized
Literature Cited thatratherthanbeingcut by the plants'leaves,he
Duke,J.A. & R. Vasquez.1994. Amazonian Ethnobo- was beingrepeatedlybittenby a venomousfer-de-
tanicalDictionary.
CRC Press,BocaRaton,Florida. lance! He survivedthatencounterofcourse,to the
greatbenefitof his students.
-Mark Plotkin,Conservation International Al cared deeplyabouthis students,notjust ac-
ademically,butalso aboutourwelfare.Forstudents
comingfromabroad,the cultureshock arrivingin
I graduatedfromWashington Universityand Al- the UnitedStatescan be prettysevere.But he was
wynGentrywas mydoctoraladvisorforfiveyears. alwaysthereifyouwantedhimforpersonaladvice.
Scientistslike Al are veryrare-he has tackledso Since his officewas always open, people would
much,takingeverything to the limitand thenbe- troopin, in a fairlyuninterrupted stream,and he
yond,exploringnew fieldsand new horizons,and managedto findtimeforall of them.One of the
throughhis fieldguide unlockingthe mysteries of strongestmemoriesI have of Al is of him wryly
the neotropicalforestsforus all. A scientistthat smiling,as he sits at his desk whichis piled two,
special who is a greatteacher as well, who has three,maybeeven fourfeetdeep withspecimens,
devotedso muchtimeand energyand enthusiasm and manuscripts,and papers, and enormous
to theirstudentsaroundtheworld,is trulyunique. amountsofwork,and a smallqueue ofstudentsand
People like Al and Ted are rarerthangold,and we curatorsin his officewantingto bend his ear.There
knowwhata terribleloss thisis. he was withdozensofprojectson thego at thesame
It would be hard to overstateAl's influenceon time,and he was stillwillingto talkwithyouabout
botanystudentsin the Americas.In 21 yearsas a whatyou wantedto talk about.
curator,he had at least 20 doctorateand master's The description ofAl as a fallengiantforesttree
studentsat all threeof the universitiesaffiliated is so right,perhaps it is somethingwe have all
454 Annalsofthe
MissouriBotanicalGarden
-'~~~~~~~~ '
4mb~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4
_' .
Ev 7 A Gnn eehigAlgyp of stems at En Hub in PenL
Fqgure7. Al Gentryteachinga groupof studentsat MonHufbich in Peni.
thoughtabout. He was always searchingfornew would include anythingrelatedto plants,such as

light,fornewgrowth, and new inspirationHe wasnomenclaturalproblems,phytogeography (one of
a forestgiantand mostof us who studiedunder his favoritetopics),ecology,and so on and so forth.
himand who workedwithhim reallywere privi- He realizedthatone wayto do conservation ofbio-
leed to be aroundthisforestgiant. Whenhe died tropicaldiversitywas teachingand learningfrom
it crasheddownand lefta huge gap in the forest,others.Wheneveryoutalkto people whohave met
an ermous gap. Whenwe firstlearntofhis pass- Al, theywilltellyouhowgoodhe was as a botanist
ing,we thoughtthatwe could neverfillthishuge and as a teacher,and thiswas because Al believed
hole,it is too big. But the morewe thinkaboutAlin just teachingand passing on his experience
and whathe has done to teachothers,ofthemany gained fromyearsof traveland researchin Latin
not only here but all over the world,America.
nds and thousandsofpeople he has inspired In thefield,he was alwaysaccompaniedby stu-
to dedicate theirworkto the tropicalforests,we dentsand botanistsfromlocal institutions and he
hope thatperhapswe can fillthatgap eventually. wouldalwaystalkto themaboutideas and projts.
But we had betterdo it quicklyforthe sake of He encouragedmanypeople to do researchin the
s like Al who cared so passionately.-Oliver
tropics,and in some cases he suggestedtopicsto
PhMis;, Unwvpy CLeds thestudents.He also encouragedmanyofus in the
tropicsto studyabroad.He helpedstudentsgeten-
rolledat foreignuniversities,and in manycases he
I ws a raduate ntwithAl Gentryforsix was also our thesisadvisor.As a majorprofessor,
Yeas, and I gauted twodays beforehe leftfor he was one ofthebest,helpingstudentsdespitethe
his lat tp He taughtfieldand classroomcourses factthathe was alwaysverybusy.For example,to
at y iversities houtall of LatinAmer- come to his officeto talkaboutthe thesisor about
On dte fieldcorses and collectingtrips,he any scientificproblemno studentneeded an ap-
s a tireless,plat coector and a minute-to-mm-pointmentWhen he knewthe dates he would be
use teadmz He was nt alwaysa seriousperson. outoftown,he wouldcome to his studentsand tell
Once in a whilehe wouldtellyoua quickjoke and them,so thattheycould come to his officeto clear
thin rIturnto talkingabout pla The taching up urgentsituation. In some cases, whenhe went
1996
awayfortwoor threemonthsand thestudentswere new species. Please check it. You know,if it is a
workingon theirtheses,he would say, "Writeall new species this is youropportunity foryourfirst
yourquestionsdownand we will talk about them paper. There is only one problem,if it is new,I
whenI comeback." Ifthestudentshad a document need a name soon since it is a collectionfrommy
readyto be revisedby the advisor,Al wouldtake plotprojectin Colombia."Takingintoaccounthis
it and put it in his briefcaseand read it at the greatexperiencesI checked everything about the
airportswhilewaitingfora flight, and thenwould collection,but I knewfromthe beginningthatit
send it back by mail a couple of days later.That wouldbe new.I wrotethepaperand he helpedme
was Al! If the studentsfor some reason did not through theprocess.Whenit came outin Novonhe
come to see himafterhe returnedfroma trip,he came to me and said, "Did you see the paper?" I
wouldcometo thestudents'cubiclesto see howthe said, "Yes, I am so happy."And he said, "Nowyou
thesisworkwas going.He was also verywarm-he can go on withoutproblems."
AnotherAl tradition was to celebratethetheses
would ask you about yourthesis and about your
defensesof his students.Everybody in the Garden
personalproblemsthathe could help to solve.
knew about the famouspizza partyafterthe stu-
AnotherwayAl wouldhelp his studentswas let-
dent'sdefense.I remember myparty,twodays be-
tingthemuse his grantmoneyto travelfortheir
forehe lefton his last trip,and I rememberAl
ownresearchactivitiesand forpublications.Many
talkingveryhighlyabouthis students.He was very
of us as studentsmade ourfirstformalpublication proudof them,and we were also proudof having
because Al encouragedus to do it. He wouldsay, as our advisorthe best moderntropicalbotanist,
"It's so easy,and afterthe firstone you will be a the man thathad a continentalview of the flora.
professional. For example,to publisha paper on a Unfortunately, we have lost Al and we are all sad,
new species is a piece of cake. Justtake the Bo- but we also knowthatif he were in thisroom,he
tanical Latin book and writethe Latin description wouldsay it is notthe timeto be sad, it is timeto
and thenwritea completedescriptionin English, work.We say to you,Al, thatyouare alive in every
bringit to me and I will give it a quick look,and one ofus. You trainedmanypeople in LatinAmer-
thatis it." It tookme a while to believe this,but ica and we will keep yourscientificlegacy alive
one day he came to me and said, "Hey Ricardo,I withus forever.-RicardoRueda, Universidad Na-
got an AegiphilafromColombia,I believe it is a cional Autdnomade Nicaragua-Leon
456 Annals of the
EULOGY
In thinking aboutAl Gentryat 22 yearsold, go-

ing to the tropicsforthe firsttimeafterlongingto
do thatforseveralyears,and withso muchlove for
biology, 22 yearsold on his waybetweentheplains
ofeasternKansas and theforest,perhaps,of Mad-
ison,I was thinking about how he musthave felt,
and I was remindedof Darwin.I looked up what
Darwinsaid on February29, 1832, whenhe was
on thevoyageofthe Beagle and he gotto Bahia in
Brazil,and Darwinsaid,
"The day has passed delightfully. Delightit-
self,however, is a weak termto expressthefeel-
ings of a nturalistwho,forthe firsttime,has w 6-
been wanderingby himselfin a Brazilianforest.
Amongthemultitude ofstrikingobjects,thegen-
eral luxurianceof the vegetationbears awaythe
victory. The elegance of the grasses,thenovelty
of the parasiticalplants,the beautyof the flow-
ers, the glossygreenof the foliage,all tend to
this end. A mostparadoxicalmixtureof sound
and silence pervades the shady parts of the
wood.The noise fromthe insectsis so loud,that Fue & William,Ramirez an entolgist fiomth~e
ofCostaRica.andGentry
University on a fieldtripwith
it maybe heardeven in a vessel anchoredsev- leavesofGuwnera thatarelocallyusedas disposable um-
eral hundredyardsfromtheshore;yetwithinthe brellas.
recessesoftheforesta universalsilenceappears
to reign.To a personfondofnaturalhistory, such
a day as this,bringswithit a deeper pleasure Pizarroanchoredin thePortofCuminaand even
thanhe can everhope againto experience.After the survivingtyphoidvictimsmanagedto drag
wanderingabout forsome hours,I returnedto themselvesup on deck to have a look. After
the landing-place;but,beforereachingit, I was threeweeks on the highseas, the land seemed
overtaken bya tropicalstorm.I triedtofindshel- breathtaking. The high mountainsof New An-
terundera treewhichwas so thick,thatitwould dalusia, half veiled by mists,line the horizon;
neverhave been penetratedby commonEnglish the townin its fortglimmeredbetweentall co-
rain; but here, in a couple of minutes.a little conut palms along the banks of a river;rose-
torrent floweddownthe trunk.It is to thisvio- coloured aingoes, snowy egrets and huge
lence of therain thatwe mustattribute the ver- brownpelicans the size of swans foragedalong
dure at the bottomof the thickestwoods:if the the shoreat the edge of a motionlessgreensea;
showerswere like those of a colder clime, the even at thatearlyhour,the lightwas dazzling.
greaterpartwouldbe absorbedor evaporatedbe- Humboldtand Bonpland hurriedashore and
foreit reachedthe ground.I will notat present looked around them. The place bowled them
[and this is a sentenceI thinkis particularly over,instantly and totally.In thefirstflushofhis
appropriate] I will notat presentattemptto de- enthusiasm.Alexanderwroteto his brother.
scribethe gaudysceneryof this noble bay. be- 'What a fabulous and extravagantcountry
cause, in our homewardvoyage,we called here we'rein! Fantasticplants,electriceels, armadil-
a secondtime,and I shall thenhave occasionto los, monkeys,parrots:and many,many,real,
remarkon it" (Darwin,1839: 11, 12). half-savageIndians.
Or perhapson a littleless philosophicalbutvery 'Whattrees!Coconutpalms50 to60 feethigh;
beaifu modeI was remindedofDouglasBotting s Poinciana pulcherrina with a big bouquet of
wors in his bookon AlexandervonHumboldt, who wonderful crimsonflowers;pisang and a whole
withhis friendBowpand ws the firsteverto un- host of trees withenormousleaves and sweet
derstandtherichnessoftropicalvegetation. I think smellingflowersas big as yourhand,all utterly
thissays it verywell too. new to us. As forthe coloursof the birds and
"At nine in the morning on 16 July1799 the fishes-even the crabs are sky-blueand yellow!
1996
Up till now,we've been runningaroundlike a heard all over Latin America.He loved to think
couple ofmad things;forthefirstthreedayswe about plants and to learn about plants and com-
couldn'tsettleto anything; we'd findone thing, munities,the relationshipsbetweenthem,the in-
onlyto abandonit forthe next.Bonplandkeeps ventoriesof the biodiversity, the basic information
tellingme he'll go outofhis mindifthewonders thatwould make conservationpossible. Our loss,
don'tcease soon.' whichwe feel verydeeply,is sharedby biologists
"In this exoticnew worldthe explorersseem and people who knew him and people who had
to have experienceda kind of sensoryecstasy. even a dimunderstanding ofhis workfromall over
Nothing-noshape,no form, no voice,no colour, the world,and we have receivedcountlessmessa-
no smell-was familiarto them.Nothingwould ges ofcondolences,especiallyfromhis LatinAmer-
readilyfitintotheirexistingpatternof memory ican colleagues.Amongthe thingsthatwe will be
and experience,therefore, everything seemedto doingin his memory will be the establishment ofa
demand equal attention.The Indians-naked! fundto supporteducationforLatinAmericanbot-
Their huts-bamboo and palm leaf! Their anists,the Flora of Peru Checklist,whichwill be
chairs-branches of coral washed up on the publishedwithinthe nexttwomonthswill be ded-
shore! Their plates-half a coconutshell! This icated to his memory, the firstcompleteinventory
way and thattheycharged,confronted at every of the plants of a South Americancountry.The
turnwithbrilliantand startling newvisions,like March issue of Conservation Biology,which will
men in a mescalintrance-here a quama tree have a majorarticleby OliverPhillips and Al in
loaded withsilveryblossoms,therea castlemoat it,willbe dedicatedto his memory. The Amazonian
fullof crocodiles.It requiredsome effort ofwill ethnobotanical dictionary byJimDuke and Rodolfo
to turntheirattention to more-mundane butnec- Vdsquezwhichis in presswill,as we'veheardfrom
essarymatters.Forfirsttheyhad to presenttheir MarkPlotkinreadingJimDuke's words,be dedi-
passportsto the Governor, and thentheyhad to cated to his memory. AlongwithConservation In-
findsomewhereto live" (Botting,1973: 76). ternational,we will sponsora symposium or collo-
Al Gentrylived fromJanuary6, 1945 to August quium on Rapid Assessment and publish the
3, 1993. He had a wonderful life. It came to an resultsas a contribution to continuingthateffort.
abruptand sad end, and when his life ended Al And hereat the Garden,we willfindthenecessary
Gentry joined theranksofotherbotanistswhodied means to finishhis taxonomicworkin progresson
throughthe yearsin the pursuitof the same kind the Bignoniaceaeand otherfronts.And to sum-
ofknowledge,the same kindofecstasythathe un- marizeand organizeand publishhis workon some
doubtedlyfelton thatday in 1967 when he first 250 forestplots,and youhave heardaboutthepos-
plungedintothe forestof Costa Rica. Banisterin sibilityof dedicatingreservesin the memory ofAl
Virginia,Forskahlin Arabia,Ldflingin Venezuela, and Ted Parker.
David Douglas in Hawaii, Jeffery in the Colorado Whatdoes it all mean?Very,veryhardto say.I
desert,Leitnerin Florida,and Ortonin Bolivia at have been wondering aboutthatquestionforquite
Lake Titicaca are amongthe botanistswhomAl sometime.I believedeeplyand profoundly thatone
nowjoins whogave theirlives in thesame questin can be happiestif one looks on life and all the
which he was engaged.Al broughthis enormous subpartsoflifenotas a destination, notas arriving
energyto learningabout plants educatingpeople at-thedestination, but as the journeyto thatdes-
and aboutsharinghis enthusiasm forthem.Tropical tination.Whathappensalongthewayis thewhole
plantsand tropicalnatureare the mostexuberant point.I thinkaboutAl growing up in a smallKan-
expressionof biologyon earthand it's the partof sas townin the late 1940s, beingfascinatedby a
thatexpressionthatit is hardestforus all to un- leaf in the sun or by a butterfly, by a sparrow,or
derstand,mostwondrousto us all, and mostdiffi- bya littledog,thesame sortsofthingsthatanybody
cult to deal with.As we have heard,hardshipin growingup in the countrywouldbe fascinatedby
the fieldwas perfectly acceptable to him and the and wouldfeel and note.It is experienceslike that
amenitieswere always forgotten in his relentless whenyouare a littlekid thatadd up to createyour
drivefornew information and new experience.He ownstyle.To give you a feelingforwhatis impor-
reallyloved his students.We set a rule at the Gar- tanttoyouand whatyouwantto do. Whatyouwant
den that no one had to teach students,anybody to make out of it all. Whatyou wantyourjourney
could do exactlywhattheywanted.For Al there to be like. Each of us has a completelydifferent
was no choice. He loved dealing withstudentsat set of experiencesand each of us puts together
Washington University,Saint Louis University, the thoseexperiencesin his or her ownway and they
University of Missouri-St.Louis, and as we have add up to thekindofpersonwe are,thethingsthat
458 Annals of the
Fi~gure9. Gentrypressingand identifying plantson Olaf Hedberg'sdiningroomtable. While in Stockholmto

receivethe CrafoordPrize in 1990. Gentryinstalledone of his 0.1-ha transects.withHedbergfromthe Botanical
Museum,at Uppsala University.
we enjoy and the thingsthatallow each of us to are all difficult

people.Wejust have different kinds
makea uniquecontribution. Listeningto thosewho ofdifficulty.but thegeniusis the love thatwe feel
spokethismorning and thinking aboutthefeelings forone another,the cherishingthatwe can do for
thatwe all share.I thinkwe can all be veryproud one another,the fraying thatwe can give one an-
of our botanicalfamily.our biologicalfamily,our otherto accomplishgreatthingstogetherand ful-
MissouriBotanicalGardenfamily,the networkof fillingthingstogethercomefromunderstanding, ap-
people whocare aboutlifeon earthand wantto do preiating,and cherishing even thosedifficulties.It
something aboutit, but let's say in a humblerway seems thatat a timelike thisthe mostappropriate
thenetwork of thoseof us whocare aboutone an- single emotionthatwe can share is the desire to
other.It shouldhave been crystalclear in thinking cherishand love and respectand tolerateone an-
aboutAl's lifeand in listeningtotheseremarksthat othermore.The rewardsof thatare greatand the
the best thingsin life don'tamountto puttingon penalties for not doing that are correspondingly
an act forone anotheror livingup to some sortof great.
generalexpectationsabout whatyou shoulddo in Let's conclude with what Darwin said after
ordertobe able to haveperhapsa wonderful eulogy spendingsix monthsin Brazil.It is truethathe did
at the end of it all. The best thingin life is living stop again aftercircumnavigating the globe (re-
dayto day,it'sdoingit. Ifwe can learntotheextent memberhe was aboutthesame age as Al was when
thateach ofus makesa uniquecontribution, to the he firstgotto thetropics).he did stopby brieflyon
extentthatwe can learnto cherishand appreciate his wayhome,butit wasn'tthebig celebrationthat
the contribution thateach one of us make,we will he expectedit to be. So let's hear whathe said in
be able to fulfillourownlives best.I don'twantto conclusion,whatDarwinsaid aftersix monthsin
mincewords,and the speakershave made it clear Brazil,firsttimearound.The big time,the big ex-
thatin somerespectsAl was a difficult person.We perience,thethingthatyouare doingnowis always
1996
the big experience-that'sthe thingto remember, theforest,the effectwithoutanyexaggeration is

don'tlook forsome kindoffuturewonderful thing thatof the full lightof the sun breakingon a
thatis goingto make everything all right,just do person who has just left a darkened room"
it. On the 23rd ofJunein 1832 Darwinsaid, (Keynes,1988: 76).
"AgainI wentto theforest, whichso oftenhas Our deepestsympathies to Al's familyand those
been provedso fruitful in all kindsofanimals.- he leaves behind.Our sharedmemoriesofhimwill
It is in all probability
the last timeI shall ever be withus always. I thankyou all forcoming.I
wanderin a Brazilianforest.-I findthepleasure appreciatethe wonderfuland heartfelt comments
derivedfromsuch scenes increases,insteadas by all the speakerson behalfof our sorelymissed
mighthave been expected,diminishing. Today colleague.Thankyou.
instead of the rude tracks,I followeda brook,
which in a narrowravine flowedamongstthe Literature Cited
huge graniticblocks.-No art could depict so Botting, D. 1973. Humboldt andtheCosmos.Harper&
stupendousa scene.-The decayingtrunksof Row,NewYork.
enormoustreesscatteredabout,formedin many Darwin, C. 1839.JournalofResearches intotheGeology
places naturalbridges;beneath& aroundthem and Natural History.
HenryColburn, London.[Quoted
from Facsimilereprint
ofthefirstedition. New
Hafner,
the damp shade favouredthe growth oftheFern York.1952.]
and Palm trees.-& lookingupwardsthetreesin Keynes,R. D. 1988. CharlesDarwin'sBeagleDiary.
themselveslofty, thusseen, appearedan almost Cambridge Univ.Press,Cambridge.
incredibleheight.-I soon foundeven by creep-
ing,I could notpenetratethe entangledmass of -Peter H. Raven,Director, MissouriBotanicalGar-
theliving& dead vegetation.-Oncomingoutof den
460 Annals of the
Exarata chocoensts
A. Gentry,
Syst.Bot. 17: 503. 1992.
"Thisremarkableplantseems to be morphologically intermediate

betweentribeSchlegelieae ...and tribeTeco-
meae. Gentryhad been awareofthisproblematic new genussince at least 1979 buthad refrained fromdescribingit
forsome years"due in partto uncertaintyaboutits familialplacementand in partto confusionaboutwhetherit is a
tree or a climber. Fieldworkconductedin 1991 witha RAP team in easternEsmeraldas,Ecuador,provedthatthe
plant was a tree and supportedits genericsegregationfromSchiegelta.The illustrationis by JohnMyers,who has
illustratedhundredsofplantsfortheMissouriBotanicalGardenresearcheffort, and is reproducedwiththepermission
ofSystematic Botany.

Gentry Tribute

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Alwyn Howard Gentry, 1945-1993: A Tribute

This issue of the Annals of theMissouriBotanical Gardenis dedicatedto the memoryof

ANN. MISSOURI BOT. GARD. 83: 433-460. 1996.

ALWYN HOWARD GENTRY, 1945-1993

THE LIFE AND WORK OF AL GENTRY Garden and generallyfilledby graduatestudents

Fagure_1. Gentryin Peni withCamiloDfaz and Rosa Ortizde Gentry.

The methodinvolvedsamplingall of the woody Manywerecollectedin thecourseofground-breaking

AlwynH. Gentry:Publications Gentry, A. H. 1975. AdditionalPanamanianMyristica-

Gentry, A. H. 1989. Three new Hispaniolanspecies of posi~doflorfstica da matade tabuleiroda ReservaFlo-

Apocynaceae.In: Florade Nicaragua tunities.In: K. Mejia (editor).HAP Symposium Volume.

Figure2 Gentryin his officeat the MissounBotanicalGardenin 1993.

GRADuATE SlTuD s SuPERViUsD BY GENTRY (wrm Higb-AndmiFoest in Peru.Ms UiEMsty

THE MEMORIAL SERVICE niques to carrythemout, and some supportfrom

thenaturalworld... to feelthemysterious perfec-

schemeof things."And thisis of coursethe para- In the meantime,thatfall, he broughta lovely

tolerance,or wisdom,of the Missouri Botanical in qualityas well as mass. I perhapsdwelltoolong

Figurea. Schunkein Tocache Nuev-o.Peru. in 19,9.

species. even veryincompleteones. withamazing Al Gentrvsdeath shocked the scientificcorn-

FiWr 6. GentrywithRudolfoHindo and CharlesMyers,head of thedepartment of herpetology

Irwin,H. S. & R. Barnebv.1982. TheAmericanCassi- asked howmanypeopleknewthatthegreatesttrop-

entistin theroomwithTed and Al thatdaybecause withthe Garden--Washington Univer-

Ev 7 A Gnn eehigAlgyp of stems at En Hub in PenL

Fqgure7. Al Gentryteachinga groupof studentsat MonHufbich in Peni.

thoughtabout. He was always searchingfornew would include anythingrelatedto plants,such as

In thinking aboutAl Gentryat 22 yearsold, go-

Fi~gure9. Gentrypressingand identifying plantson Olaf Hedberg'sdiningroomtable. While in Stockholmto

we enjoy and the thingsthatallow each of us to are all difficult

the big experience-that'sthe thingto remember, theforest,the effectwithoutanyexaggeration is

"Thisremarkableplantseems to be morphologically intermediate

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