authored papers on most of the species of cacti in the United States using 
specimens and information provided by other collectors, members of 
the Pacific Railroad Survey, the Mexican Boundary Commission, and 
other botanists working in California and Arizona. This work long stood 
as the standard authority on that family of plants. 
In the 1850s, Engelmann’s status as a prominent amateur botanist 
prompted Henry Shaw to employ him to help plan a botanical garden 
on the wealthy merchant’s estate.'° The garden they mapped out became 
the renowned Missouri Botanical Garden. His work garnered many 
honors for Engelmann. Washington University in St. Louis named its 
principal botany professorship after him, for example, and fellow 
botanists gave his name to three genera and several plant species, in- 
cluding a cactus and the majestic Engelmann spruce. 
George 
Engelmann 
