Raymond Louis Wyatt

illustration for Raymond Louis Wyatt, Herbarium collector page

(b. 23 November 1926)

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium has cataloged about 40 vascular plant specimens collected by Raymond Louis Wyatt, who usually signed his labels “R. L. Waytt”.   Most were collected in the 1960’s in North Carolina.  As more of our collection is cataloged more specimens which he collected will be found.

Herbarium specimen label for Tulip Tree collected by Raymond Louis Wyatt

Other herbaria curating specimens collected by R. L. Wyatt include Appalachian State University (BOON), Austin Peay State University (APSC), Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CM), Clemson University (CLEMS), William & Mary (WILLI), Delta State University (DSC), Georgia Southern University (GAS), Illinois Natural History Survey (ILLS), Indiana University (IND), Utah State University (UTC), Kent State University (KE), James F. Matthews Center for Biodiversity Studies (UNCC), Murray State University (MUR), New York Botanical Garden (NY), North Carolina State University (NCSC), University of Arizona (ARIZ), University of Colorado, Boulder (COLO), Florida Museum of Natural History (FLAS), University of Louisiana at Lafayette (LAF), University of Maryland (MARY), University of Memphis (MEM), University of Mississippi (MISS), University of North Carolina at Pembroke (PEMB), University of South Alabama (USAM), University of South Carolina, Columbia (USCH), University of South Florida (USF), and University of Southern Mississippi (USMS).1

Raymond Louis Wyatt was born on 23 November 1926 in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina.2  (His middle name is spelled “Lewis” in the Birth Index, but in every other document found it is “Louis”. 3)  His parents, Amanda and Pleasant L. Wyatt, had a farm near Spencer and Pleasant also was a “machinist helper” for the Southern Railroad.4,5,6  Raymond’s siblings included sisters Zula, Evelene (or Evylyne), Louise and Ruby, and brother Baxter.4,7  Raymond Wyatt graduated from Spencer High School, then attended Mars Hill College before transferring to Wake Forest College in the fall of 1946.  He graduated from Wake Forest College in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree, and returned to Mars Hill College to teach.6

Raymond Wyatt married Irene Austin (b. ca. 1927) on 30 August 1952 in Statesville, Iredell County, North Carolina.5

Dr. Bud Elmon Smith, an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, steered Wyatt to do graduate work in botany at Carolina.6  Raymond Wyatt studied with Dr. Carroll E. Wood, Jr. and Dr. J. E. Adams in the Botany Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  The title of Wyatt’s 1954 M.A. thesis was “A biological and embryological study of four species of Asarum (Aristolochiaceae)”.  He completed his Ph.D. in 1955; the title of his doctoral thesis was “Floral morphology and phylogeny of the Aristolochiaceae.”8, 9

Wyatt returned to Wake Forest College in 1956 and joined the Biology Department faculty.  He was named Professor Emeritus at Wake Forest University in 1992.6

Publications (incomplete list) :
Wyatt, Raymond L. 1954.  A biological and embryological study of four species of Asarum (Aristolichiaceae).  M.A. thesis, Botany Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Wyatt, Raymond L. 1955.  An embryological study of four species of Asarum.  Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 71(1):  64-82.
Wyatt, Raymond L. 1955.  Floral morphology and phylogeny of the Aristolochiaceae.  Ph.D. thesis, Botany Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

SOURCES:
1.  Sernecportal.org  accessed on 8 April 2019.
2.  World War II Draft Card, Raymond Louis Waytt.  The National Archives at Atlanta, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia, USA:  Record Group:  Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975, RG 147; Box:  411.    Ancestry.com  U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line].  Lehi, UT, USA:  Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
3.  Register of Deeds.  North Carolina Birth Indexes.  Raleigh, North Carolina:  North Carolina State Archives.  Microfilm.  Ancestry.com.  North Carolina, Birth Indexes, 1800-2000 [database on-line].  Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2005.
4.  United States of America, Bureau of the Census.  Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940.  Washington, D.C.:  National Archives and Records Administration, 1940.  T627,4,643 rolls.  Year:  1940; Census Place:  Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina; Roll:  m-t0627-02969; Page:  10A; Enumeration District:  80-46.  Ancestry.com.  1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line].  Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
5.  North Carolina County Registers of Deeds.  Microfilm.  Record Group 048.  North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.  Ancestry.com  North Carolina, Marriage Records 1741-2011 [database on-line].  Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
6.  Phillips, Anne R.  2008. Index of audiotaped interview with Raymond L. Wyatt, Ph.D., retired, Wake Forest University faculty member, Biology Department.  https://wakespace.lib.wfu.edu/bitstream/handle/10339/3954/Wyatt%2C%20Raymond%20L.%20WFU%20OH%203oct08.pdf accessed on 8 April 2019.
7.  United States of America, Bureau of the Census.  Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930.  Washington, D.C.:  National Archives and Records Administration, 1930.  T626,2,667 rolls.  Year:  1930; Census Place:  Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina; Page:  6B; Enumeration District:  0042; FHL microfilm:  2341453.  Ancestry.com  1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line].  Provo, UT, USA:  Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2002.
8.  Personal communication.  Nicole Wallace, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Alumni Records to McCormick 29 March 2019.
9.  Kilfoil, Jessica, William R. Burk, and Elizabeth A. Appleton.  2005.  A List of Dissertations and Graduate Theses in Botany Completed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1912-2005.