Ro ots — continued from back page 

type gradually succeeded into another. 
Cowles remained at the University of Chicago 
throughout his career, becoming a master 
teacher. His proteges, including William Cooper, 
considered Cowles’ teaching an even greater 
contribution to science than his research. 
“Even greater is the number of teachers who 
have learned from him [Cowles] how to use the 
out-of-doors, how to bring pupils directly to nature, 
and, above all, how to unfold to them the myriad 
mysteries of biology....” (Cooper 1935) 
Thanks to Cowles’ enthusiasm for teaching 
in the outdoor laboratory, many of us in the life 
sciences can trace our academic pedigree to 
Cowles. | for one! Cooper passed Cowles’ legacy 
on to his students including Rex Daubenmire 
and Henry Oosting. Daubenmire counted among 
his alumni John Crow who | sat under as an 
undergraduate. Oosting’s alums included Dwight 
Billings who trained Richard Wagner, my master’s 
= 
Reflections — continued from left 
typical growth habit of her subject. But | 
could not resist painting this lush cluster of 
blossoms in transparent layers of magenta 
and marine blue, suggesting other shoots, 
growing in their usual form and beginning 
to set fruit, in pencil. At the bottom of the 
painting, | put in the delicate, pale periwinkle 
Kalm’s lobelia, which | hadn’t seen since my 
days in Michigan exploring the upper Great 
Lakes and was thrilled to find here. Adding 
pollinators to each plant completed the 
image—as it always does. 
| gave the original of “Two Lobelias” back 
to the Dunes National Lakeshore, where it 
was born. Looking at the digital image of the 
work always evokes for me its surrounding 
landscape, the flora that grew there, and the 
myriad creatures that depend on the plants 
and the entire ecosystem of the Dunes. The 
tracks of snakes, toads, birds, and mice 
decorated the sandy path that wound through 
the swale beneath the lobelias—intricate 
patterns more beautiful than any painting a 
wandering artist could create. 
Gillian Harris is an active member of the South 
Central Chapter of INPS and artist for Wake 
Up, Woods. 
advisor while | was at Penn State. 
The roots of American ecological science have 
profound connections to Indiana 
via the Dunes and Henry Cowles. 
Together they dramatize succession 
both on the dynamic landscape and in 
human endeavors. 
References 
Cooper, W.S. 1935. Henry Chandler 
Cowles. Ecology 16:281-283. 
Cowles, H.C. 1899. The ecological 
relations of the vegetation on the 
sand dunes of Lake Michigan. Part 
|.-Geographical relations of the dune 
floras. Botanical Gazette 27:95-117. 
https://doi.org/10.1086/327796 
Paul Rothrock earned botanical 
degrees at Rutgers University - 
Newark (BA) and Pennsylvania 
State University (WS, Ph.D.); in 
his retirement he enjoys being 
a member of the South Central 
Chapter of INPS. 

Henry Chandler Cowles (1869-19339). 


Cowles Bog in the Dunes National 
Park was named in his honor. 
Photo from University of Chicago 
Photographic Archive, apf1-01969r, 
Special Collections Research Center, 
University of Chicago Library. 
Get On Your Boots! 
“Get on your boots and follow him, 
He’s half a mile in front, 
It’s our own Dr. Cowles himself 
Out on a lichen hunt.” 
“It’s our own Dr. Cowles you know; 
They’ve lost the pattern since 
Of all our friends afar and near 
He surely is the prince.” 
— May Theilgaard, 
writing about her botany professor, 
Henry Chandler Cowles 

Summer 2021 «¢ Indiana Native Plant Society - 19 
