[Reprinted from THE PopULar ScieNcE MONTHLY, February, 1909.] 
A BIOGRAPHICAL gate OF BOTANY AT ST. LOUIS, 
MISSOURI. III. 
By Dr. PERLEY SPAULDING 
LABORATORY OF FOREST PATHOLOGY, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY, 
U. S, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
XPLORATION in the Missouri country was commenced in 1835 
by Karl Andreas Geyer, a collector who became well known for 
his botanical explorations in the northwestern section of the United 
States. His explorations extended over a number of years and ranged 
from Illinois westward to the Pacific. He traveled especially in the 
territory included between the Mississippi and the Missouri River as 
far north as North Dakota. 
Karl Andreas Geyer’? was born in Dresden, Germany, on November 
30, 1809. His father was a market gardener of very moderate circum- 
stances. The boy was naturally bright and studied Latin under the 
tutelage of a kind-hearted man who helped him with his lessons, which 
were studied while he was selling his father’s produce in the streets of 
the city. In 1826 he entered the garden at Zabelitz as an apprentice. 
In 1830 he removed to Dresden and engaged as assistant in the bo- 
tanic garden there. In this place he had numerous friends, among 
whom was Dr. H. G. Reichenbach, whose lectures upon botany he at- 
tended with great regularity. He seems to have been a very likable 
and attractive person, drawing the attention of those with whom he 
came in contact. In February, 1834, he left Dresden for America. 
Here he collected plants during the summer months and worked at 
odd jobs in the winter, thus maintaining himself for several years. In 
one case he entered a newspaper office as compositor, but a few months 
later he was writing the leading articles for the same paper that he had 
helped set in type. 
Geyer’s first great journey in this country was in 1835, when he 
visited and explored the plains of the Missouri with a single compan- 
ion. In 1836 and the succeeding years he went with Nicollet survey- 
ing the country between the Missouri and the Mississippi River. In 
1840 he collected around St. Louis and in Illinois, making very consid- 
erable collections during this season. While in St. Louis he became 
acquainted with Dr. George Engelmann and this friendship seems to 
have lasted as long as Geyer was in this country. Engelmann seems to 
have worked over his collections, as we find him publishing upon them 
- *® Anonymous, Chronik des Gartenwesens, 3: 185-187, 1853. 
Reichenbach, H. G., Kew Garden Miscellany, 7: 181-183, 1855. 
