(1892-1974)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) curates over 1500 vascular plants, 1400 fungi and 20 bryophytes collected by Henry Roland Totten, who usually signed his labels as “H. R. Totten”. Without doubt as we continue to catalog our collections more specimens collected by Totten will be found.
As of May, 2021, herbaria curating vascular plant specimens collected by H. R. Totten include: Academy of Natural Sciences (PH), Appalachian State University (BOON), Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CM), Duke University (DUKE), East Carolina University (ECUH), Eastern Kentucky University (EKY), Florida State University (FSU), Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (GH), Indiana University (IND), Kent State University (KE), Louisiana State University (LSU), James F. Matthews Center for Biodiversity Studies (UNCC), Missouri Botanical Garden (MO), New York Botanical Garden (NY), North Carolina State University (NCSC), The Pennsylvania State University (PAC), Saint Andrews University (SAPCL), Towson University (BALT), University of Colorado (COLO), University of Florida (FLAS), University of Georgia (GA), University of Kansas (KANU), University of Minnesota (MIN), University of North Carolina at Pembroke (PEMB), University of South Carolina (USCH), University of South Florida (USF), University of Tennessee (TENN), University of Texas (TEX), University of the South (UOS), Valdosta State University (VSC), Virginia Tech (VPI), Western Carolina University (WCUH), and the College of William & Mary (WILLI).
Henry Roland Totten was born in Matthews, North Carolina on November 6, 1892. He graduated from the Yadkin Collegiate Institute in 1909 and received his A.B. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1913. The title of his Masters thesis (1914) was “I. Development of the seed in Mayaca aubleti; II. Developement of the seed in the cleistogamic flower of Specularia perfoliata.” Totten studied fungi for his Doctoral thesis (1923), “Description, life history, and mycorrhizal character of Rhizopogon parasiticus Coker & Totten n. sp.” Upon completed his graduate work under Dr. William Chambers Coker at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Totten promptly joined the Botany Department as a faculty member, teaching general botany, dendrology, pharmacognosy, and plant taxonomy.
His name is especially associated for most people with the woody flora of the southeastern United States, and his book on this topic (co-authored with Dr. Coker) is still an excellent guide to the trees in our area.
Dr. Totten also wrote the section on the Fagaceae (the oak and beech family) for the Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas, a challenging job in our oak-rich region.
Dr. Totten was instrumental in founding the North Carolina Botanical Garden and also served as director of the Coker Arboretum. He died in Chapel Hill on February 9, 1974, only three weeks after the death of his wife, Addie.
The best published source of biographical information on Totten is a memorial piece which appeared in the Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, vol. 89, pp. 262-263.
PUBLICATIONS:
compiled by Rhonda Teague Rogers, emended by William R. Burk & Carol Ann McCormick
1914. (with J. A. McKay). I. Development of the seed in Mayaca aubleti. II. Development of the seed in the cleistogamic flower of Specularia perfoliata. M.A. Thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Botany. 17 pp.
1914. (with J. A. McKay). Flowers and seed development of Specularia perfoliata. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 30: 64-65. [Abstract]
1915. Some observations on the red cedar. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 31:8. [Abstract]
1916. (with William Chambers Coker). Keys to The Trees of North Carolina and to The Shrubs and Vines of Chapel Hill. [The Authors, Chapel Hill, N.C.] 18 pp.
1916. (with William Chambers Coker). The shrubs and vines of Chapel Hill. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 32: 66-81.
1916. Trees and shrubs of Chapel Hill. Science 44: 361. [Abstract]
1916. (with William Chambers Coker). The Trees of North Carolina. [The Authors, Chapel Hill, N.C.] 106 pp.
1917. Armillaria mellea, Clitocybe cespitosa, Pleurotus sapidus, and Claudopus nidulans in pure culture. Science 46: 195. [Abstract]
1920. (with William Chambers Coker). Laboratory Guide in General Botany. [The Authors, Chapel Hill, N.C.] 70 pp.
1920. A peculiar mycorhiza [sic; mycorrhiza]-forming Rhipzopogon [sic; Rhizopogon] on the roots of pine. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 36: 15-16.
1920. SIngle spore cultures of Coprinus radiatus. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 36: 13. [Abstract]
1922. Wild ferns and flowers of Chapel Hill. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 38: 12. [Abstract]
1923. Development of the fruit-body of a new parasitic Rhizopogon. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 39: 101-109 + plates 1-7.
1923. Description, life history, and mycorhizal [sic; mycorrhizal] character of Rhizopogon parasiticus Coker & Totten, n. sp. Ph.D. Thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Botany. 15 pp.
1925. Drug plants available for study at Chapel Hill, N.C., 1925. Carolina J. Pharm. 7: 7-8.
1926. (with William Chambers Coker). Laboratory Guide in General Botany, rev. ed. [The Authors, Chapel Hill, N.C.] 75 pp.
1928. (with E. V. Kyser). The cultivation of Bergamot mint (Mentha citrata) in Chapel Hill. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 44: 24.
1928. (with William Chambers Coker). Laboratory Guide in Pharmaceutical Botany & Pharmacognosy. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 34 pp.
1931. (with William Chambers Coker). Laboratory Guide in General Botany, 3rd ed. [The Authors, Chapel Hill, N.C.] 97 pp.
1932. Botanical section, pp. 5-13. In The Pharmaceutical Syllabus: Outlining the Course of Instruction for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (B.S. Phar.). 4th ed. Prepared & Published by the National Pharmaceutical Syllabus Committee, representing the American Pharmaceutical Association, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. [The Lord Baltimore Press, Baltimore, MD.0 168 pp.
1932. Laboratory Guide in Pharmaceutical Botany & Pharmacognosy, 2nd ed. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 49 pp.
1932. (with William Chambers Coker). Notes on extended ranges of plants in North Carolina. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 48: 138-140.
1934. (with William Chambers Coker). Trees of the Southeastern States, including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 399 pp.
1936. (with William Chambers Coker and H. J. Oosting). Dr. Thomas Grant Harbison. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 52: 140-145.
1937. Laboratory Guide in Pharmaceutical Botany & Pharmacognosy, 3rd ed. The Book Exchange, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 47 pp.
1937. Notes on Buckleya and Pyrularia (Buffalo-nut). J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 53: 226.
1937. (with William Chambers Coker). Trees of the Southeastern States, including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and northern Florida, 2nd ed. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 417 pp.
1939. (with William Chambers Coker). Laboratory Guide in General Botany, 4th ed. [The Authors, Chapel Hill, N.C.] 97 pp.
1945. A station for Rhododendron chapmanii in eastern Florida. Proc. Florida Acad. Sci. 7(2-3): 105.
1945. (with William Chambers Coker). Trees of the Southeastern States, including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and northern Florida, 3rd ed. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 419 pp.
1948. Laboratory Guide in Pharmaceutical Botany & Pharmacognosy, 5th ed. The Book Exchange, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 52 pp.
1952. Laboratory Guide in Pharmaceutical Botany & Pharmacognosy, 6th ed. The Book Exchange, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 52 pp.
1952. Rapid growth of Metasequoia. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 68: 139-140. [Abstract]
1954. (with John Nathaniel Couch). William Chambers Coker. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 70: 116-118.
1956. Early contributors to southern botany. Association of Southeastern Biologists Bulletin 3(2): 23-27.
1957. Laboratory Guide in Pharmaceutical Botany & Pharmacognosy, 7th ed. The Book Exchange, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 52 pp.
1964. Pinaceae, Taxodiaceae, Cupressaceae; Fagaceae, pp. 48-50; 135-138. In A. E. Radford, et al., Guide to the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas, with Distribution in the Southeastern States. The Book Exchange, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
1964. [Key to the gymnosperms], pp. 48-50. In A. E. Radford, et al., Guide to the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas, with Distribution in the Southeastern States. The Book Exchange, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 383 pp.
1968. Pinaceae, Taxodiaceae, Cupressaceae; Fagaceae, pp. 34-43; 370-385. In A. E. Radford et al., Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 1183 pp.
1968. [Key to the gymnosperms], pp. 34, 36, 40, 41. In A. E. Radford et al., Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 1183 pp.
