Clyde Ritchie Bell

(10 April 1921 – 6 March  2013)

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) has over 5,400 specimens collected by C. Ritchie Bell. As only a fraction of our collection has been cataloged, without doubt many thousands more specimens collected, determined or annotated by Bell will be found.

The name C. Ritchie Bell is inextricably linked to the flora of the southeastern U.S. He is probably most familiar to students as one of the authors (along with Albert E. Radford and Harry E. Ahles) of the venerable Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas, a work still relied upon by students and professional botanists alike.

H. R. Totten (L) and C. Ritchie Bell in Coker Arboretum on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. Image courtesy of Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Undated.

Clyde Ritchie Bell was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1921 and grew up in Asheville, North Carolina. He received A.B. and M.A. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1947 and 1949. The title of his Master of Arts thesis was “A taxonomic study of the Sarraceniaceae of North America.” He earned his Ph.D. in botany at the University of California at Berkeley in 1953; the title of his doctoral thesis was “The Sanicula crassicaulis complex (Umbelliferae): A study of variation and polyploidy.” From there, he went on to his first professional position as a botany instructor at the University of Illinois.

n 1951, Dr. Bell returned to UNC-Chapel Hill to teach botany and to work on the formation of a research garden. In 1961, Dr. Bell became the Acting Director of the North Carolina Botanical Garden; he was named official Director in 1966. By the late 1970’s the Garden had truly become something for the Old North State to be proud of (despite the fact that the state itself gave no money to the Garden until 1971).

“Now we have a state botanical garden that has a very good standing both nationally and internationally with very modest cost to the state itself,” Bell commented in a 1986 interview with the Chapel Hill News. “The garden is one-of-a-kind; everyone wants to know how we do it.” Dr. Bell retired from the Directorship of the Garden in 1986, but was very active in its affairs until his death. The Ritchie Bell Conference Room in Building A of the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s Education Center is named in his honor.

Ritchie Bell died in Chapel Hill on March 6, 2013 at age 91. He is survived by his wife, Anne Lindsey and his son, David Bell; his sister, Patricia Ramsey (Asheville, NC); and his brother, W. David Bell (Macon, NC). The family requests that donations in Ritchie’s memory be made to the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill (919-962-0522) to benefit the Children’s Garden and the Herbarium.

In 2015 Richard LeBlond named Scleria bellii (Cyperaceae) in honor of C. Ritchie Bell. “Although widespread, known populations [of S. bellii] are few and scattered, with 14 in the United States from North Carolina to Texas, and one each in Cuba and Mexico.   In the United States, 12 populations are found on the outer Coastal Plain, and two in the Carolina Piedmont.   At known sites, soils are wet, and several populations occur in rare and unusual habitats with acidic pH and a calcareous influence.”

Frontisepiece of Wild Flowers of North Carolina by William S. Justice and C. Ritchie Bell, published in 1968

Bell was a prolific writer with a large number of books and articles to his credit. Best known of his books are, of course, the above-mentioned Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas published in 1968, as well as Wild Flowers of North Carolina (with William S. Justice, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968, title page and frontispiece shown below) and Florida Wild Flowers and Roadside Plants (with Bryan J. Taylor, Chapel Hill: Laurel Hill Press, 1982). Both of the wildflower books are fully illustrated with color photographs and are easily accessible to non-botanists.

Some of Dr. Bell’s most recent accomplishments were in the realm of videography. He and Dr. Anne H. Lindsey constructed a series of video recordings, published by Laurel Hill Press, each focusing on the visible flora of a particular season. The most recent is Woodland Harvest of the Eastern Forests, highlighting fruits rather than flowers (Laurel Hill, 1996).

Dr. Bell’s papers have been compiled by Rhonda Teague Rogers and are available in the North Carolina Collection of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Papers pertaining to Dr. Bell’s work with the North Carolina Botanical Garden are available in the “Records of the North Carolina Botanical Garden”, housed in the University Archives.

A Bibliography of the Theses and Publications of C. Ritchie Bell
Compiled by Rhonda Teague Rogers; emended and updated by William R. Burk (January 1995, November 2006) and Zena Wubneh (January 2007)

Theses

1948 
A taxonomic study of the Sarraceniaceae of North America. M.A. Thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Department of Botany. iii, 72 pp. + 9 plates.
1953  The Sanicula crassicaulis complex (Umbelliferae): A study of variation and polyploidy. Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley. 149 pp.

Publications
1949 A cytotaxonomic study of the Sarraceniaceae of North America. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. 65: 137-166 + plates 8-14.

1952  Natural hybrids in the genus Sarracenia. I. History, distribution and taxonomy. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. 68: 55-80 + plates 2-7.

1953  (with E.A. Steinhaus). The effect of certain microorganisms and antibiotics on stored-grain insects. Journal of Economic Entomology 46: 582-598.
1953  Review of P.D. Strausbaugh and E.L. Core. Flora of West Virginia. (Part I). 1952. Madroño 12: 63-64.

1954  Additional data on animistic thinking. Scientific Monthly 79: 67-69.
1954  Review of P.D. Strausbaugh and E.L. Core. Flora of West Virginia. (Part II). 1953. Madroño 12: 158-159.
1954  Sarracenia leucophylla Rafinesque. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. 70: 57-60.
1954  The Sanicula crassicaulis complex (Umbelliferae): A study of variation and polyploidy. University of California Publications in Botany 27: 133-230 + plates 9-13. [Based on the author’s Ph.D. thesis,1953].

1955  Review of R.W. Pohl. How to know the grasses. 1954. Madroño 13: 48.

1956  (with F.W. Case). Natural hybrids in the genus Sarracenia. II. Current notes on distribution.Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 72: 142-152.
1957  (with L. Constance). Chromosome numbers in Umbelliferae. American Journal of Botany 44: 565-572.
1957  Hydrocotyle americana L. in South Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 73:[446]-447.

1958  (with R.O. Alava, H.J. Arnott [and others], compilers). Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1956. [Volume I, Number 1]. Published by the California Botanical Society with the aid of a grant from the University Research Council of the University of North Carolina and a grant from the National Science Foundation. 57, vii, pp.
1958  (with R.O. Alava, H.J. Arnott [and others], compilers). Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1957. [Volume I, Number 2]. Published by the California Botanical Society with the aid of a grant from the National Science Foundation. vii, 61 pp.
1958 (with H.E. Ahles and A.E. Radford). Species new to the flora of North or South Carolina. Rhodora 60: [10]-32.

1959  (with R.O. Alava, H.J. Arnott [ and others], compilers). Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1958. [Volume I], Number 3. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 61, ix pp.
1959  (with R.O. Alava, H.J. Arnott [and others], compilers). Index to plant chromosome numbers, Supplement (Previous to 1956). Published by the California Botanical Society with the aid of a grant from the National Science Foundation. 61, ix pp.
1959  Mineral nutrition and flower to flower pollen size variation. American Journal of Botany 46: 621-624.
1959 Taxonomy: one kind, or many? ASB Bulletin 6: 39-40.

1960  [Abstract]. Chromosome numbers in Eryngium species of the southern United States. ASB Bulletin 7: 22.
1960  (with L. Constance). Chromosome numbers in Umbelliferae. II. American Journal of Botany 47: 24-32.
1960  (with R.O. Alava, H.J. Arnott [and others], compilers). Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1959. [Volume I], Number 4. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 59, ix, 12 pp.
1960
  (with A.E. Radford). Laboratory directions and exercises for General Botany. Drawings by Peggy-Ann Kessler. [The Authors, Chapel Hill, N.C.] 1960  Review of C.L. Porter. Taxonomy of flowering plants. 1959. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 87: 222-223.

1961  (with H.J. Arnott, W.R. Ernst [and others], compilers). In M.S. Cave and H.F. Chisaki-Hommersand (editors), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1960. Volume II, Number 5.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 1-84
.
1961  Variation in the size of pollen cells, pp. 41-43. In American Institute of Biological Sciences, Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, Committee on the Gifted Student, High School Biology:
Biological Investigations for Secondary School Students. Boulder, Colorado: Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, University of Colorado. xviii, 402 pp
.

1962  (with H.J. Arnott, J. B. Hair [and others], compilers). In M.S. Cave and H.F. Chisaki-Hommersand (editors), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1961. Volume II, Number 6. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 85-160.1962  [Abstract]. Taxonomic characters of some species of Matelea (Asclepiadaceae). ASB Bulletin 9: 40.

1963  The genus Eryngium in the southeastern United States. Castanea 28: 73-79.
1963  (with H.J. Arnott, J.B. Hair [and others], compilers). In M.S. Cave and H.F. C.-Hommersand (editors), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1962. Volume II, Number 7. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press. pp. 161-252.

1963  [Chapter] 46. Variation in the size of pollen cells, pp. [25]-28. In American Institute of Biological Sciences, Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, Research Problems in Biology: Investigations for Students, Series Two. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday & Company, Inc. 2 volumes.
1963  Review of C.C. Campbell, W.F. Hutson, H.L. Macon, and A.J. Sharp. Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers. 1962. Plant Science Bulletin 9 (1): 7-8.
1963  (with W. Johnson, W. Balamuth [and others]). Standards for staff and facilities in departments of biological science. A.I.B.S. Bulletin 13: 14-19.

1964  Cytomixis in Tauschia nudicaulis Schlecht (Apiaceae). Cytologia 29: 396-398.
1964  (with A.E. Radford, H.E. Ahles, and contributors). Guide to the vascular flora of the Carolinas, with distribution in the southeastern states. Chapel Hill: The Book Exchange, University of North Carolina. 383 pp.
1964  Incidence of polyploidy correlated with ecological gradients. Evolution 18: 510-511.
1964  (with H.J. Arnott, J.B. Hair [and others], compilers). In M.S. Cave and H.F. C.-Hommersand(editors), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1963. Volume II, Number 8. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 253-374.
1964  Notes on Calystegia (Convolvulaceae) in the Carolinas. Sida 1: 386.

1965  (with A.E. Radford and H.E. Ahles). Atlas of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Tech[nical] Bull[etin] No. 165. Raleigh: North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. 208 pp.
1965   Bibliography: plant taxonomy. BioScience 15: 383-385.
1965  Documented plant chromosome numbers 65: 3. Sida 2: 168-170.
1965  (with J.B. Hair, L.R. Heckard, [and others], compilers). In M.S. Cave and H.F. C.-Hommersand (editors), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1964. Volume II, Number 9. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 375-476.
1965  Molecular plant taxonomy. American Biology Teacher 27: [92]-96.
1965  The North Carolina Botanical Gardens. The North Carolina Gardener 34 (1): 21.
1965  Review of P.H. Davis and V.H. Heywood. Principles of angiosperm taxonomy. 1963. Quarterly Review of Biology 40: 199.
1965  Review of I.K. Langman. A selected guide to the literature on the flowering plants of Mexico.  1964. ASB Bulletin 12: 69.

1966  (with L. Constance). Chromosome numbers in Umbelliferae. III. American Journal of Botany 53: 512-520.
1966  Review of C.S. Hires. Spores. Ferns. Microscopic Illusions Analyzed. Vol. 1: Varied Plant Groups Introduce True Ferns through Spore Tetrad Structure. 1965. BioScience 16: 130.

1967  (with A.E. Radford, J.W. Hardin, and R.L. Wilbur). Contributors’ guide for the “Vascular flora of the southeastern United States.” [The Authors, Chapel Hill, N.C.]. 20 pp.
1967 (with J.B. Hair, L.R. Heckard [and others], compilers.). In R. Ornduff (editor), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1965. Regnum Vegetabile, Volume 50. Published by the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, Utrecht, Netherlands. viii, 128 pp.
1967  North Carolina Botanical Garden is many things. Southern Gardens 4: 5-11.
1967  (with D.R. Windler). Notes on preparation for a botanical field trip to Mexico. ASB Bulletin 14:  59-64.
1967  Plant variation and classification. Drawings by Susan Carlton Smith. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company. vi, 135 pp.

1968  (with Th.W.J. Gadella, J.B. Hair [and others]). In R. Ornduff (editor), index to plant chromosome numbers for 1966. Regnum Vegetabile, Volume 55. Utrecht, Netherlands: Published by the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. 126 pp.
1968 (with A.E. Radford and H.E. Ahles). Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. lxi, 1183 pp.
1968  The North Carolina Botanical Garden. North Carolina Architect 15 (6-7): 34-35.
1968  Review of H.D. Harrington. Edible native plants of the Rocky Mountains. 1967. BioScience 18: 1070.
1968  (with W.S. Justice). Wild flowers of North Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. xxvii, 217 pp.

1969  Basic library list for the biological sciences. C.U.E.B.S. Publication 22. Commission on Undergraduate Education in Biological Sciences.
1969  Biology in the next two decades. (Part 1). C.U.E.B.S. News 6: 3-4.
1969  (with Th.W.J. Gadella, J.B. Hair [and others]). In R. Ornduff (editor), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1967. Regnum Vegetabile, Volume 59. Utrecht, Netherlands: Published by the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. 129 pp.
1969  [Abstract]. Pollination vectors and floral variability in Aquilegia caerulea and A. elegantula. XI International Botanical Congress Abstracts: 12.
1969  [Abstract]. Variation and selection pressure in Aquilegia caerulea James (Ranunculaceae). ASB  Bulletin 16: 44.

1970  [Abstract]. Fertility patterns in Gerardia L. sensu Fernald. ASB Bulletin 17: 30.
1970  (with N. Agapova, Th.W.J. Gadella [and others]). In R.J. Moore (editor), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1968. Regnum Vegetabile, Volume 68. Ultecht, Netherlands: Published by the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. 115 pp.
1970  Review of F.P. Woodford (editor). Scientific writing for graduate students: A CBE manual. 1968.  BioScience 20: 576-577.
1970  Seed distribution and germination experiment, pp. D-177 – D-182. In H.T. Odum (editor), A tropical rain forest. Division of Technical Information, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. 1 volume (various pagings).

1971  Breeding systems and floral biology of the Umbelliferae, or evidence for specialization in unspecialized flowers, pp. 93-107. In V.H. Heywood (editor), The Biology and Chemistry of the
Umbelliferae. Supplement 1 to the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 64, 1971. London, New York: Published for the Linnean Society by Academic Press. x, 438 pp
.
1971  (with L. Constance and T.-I. Chuang). Chromosome numbers in Umbelliferae. IV. American Journal of Botany 58: 577-587.
1971  (with N. Agapova, Th.W.J. Gadella [and others]). In R.J. Moore (editor), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1969. Regnum Vegetabile, Volume 77. Utrecht, Netherlands: Published by A. Oostheok’s Uitgeversmaatschappij for the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature. 112 pp.
1971 [Abstract]. Intergeneric variation in the stylopodia of some Apiaceae. American Journal of Botany 58: 462.
1971  [Abstract]. Trends to specialized pollination in the Apiaceae. ASB Bulletin 18: 27.

1972  (with N. Agapova, Th.W.J. Gadella [and others]). In R.J. Moore (editor), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1970. Regnum Vegetabile, Volume 84. Utrecht, Netherlands: Published
by A. Oosthoek’s Uitgeversmaatschappij for the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature. 134 pp.

1973  (with N. Agapova, P.E. Brandham [and others]). In R.J. Moore (editor), Index to plant chromosome numbers 1967-1971. Regnum Vegetabile, Volume 90. Utrecht, Netherlands: Published by Oosthoek’s Uitgevermaatschappij for the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature. ii, 539 pp.
1973  (with J. Edison Adams, Victor A. Greulach, Lindsey S. Olive, and Albert E. Radford). Memorial Henry Roland Totten. The Journal of the Mitchell Society 89: 262-263.

1974  (with N. Agapova, Th.W.J. Gadella [and others]). In R.J. Moore (editor), Index to plant chromosome numbers for 1972. Regnum Vegetabile, Volume 91. Utrecht, Netherlands: Published
for the International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature. 108 pp.
1974  (with J.K. Moore). The North Carolina Botanical Garden: a natural garden of native plants. American Horticulturist 53 (5): [23]-29.
1974  [Abstract]. Pollen production in relation to ovule number in two species of Asclepias (Asclepiadaceae). ASB Bulletin 21: 38.
1974  (with A.E. Radford, W.C. Dickison, [and others]). Vascular plant systematics. New York: Harper & Row. 891 pp.

1975  [Abstract]. (with B. Kowalczyk). Pollination ecology of Hedysarum Spp. (Fabaceae) in the Yukon. ASB Bulletin 22: 60.

1976  (with R.A. Goldsby [and others]). Biology. A Leogryph Book. Harper & Row, New York. xxiii, 862 pp.
1976  (with L. Constance and T.-I. Chuang). Chromosome numbers in Umbelliferae. V. American Journal of Botany 63: 608-625.
1976  (Abstract]. Inflorescence shape and pollinator activity in Daucus carota L. (Apiaceae). ASB Bulletin 23: 42.

1977  (with B. Butcher, S. Bondurant, [and others]). Vascular plants: discussion, pp. 139-142. In J.E. Cooper, S.S. Robinson and J.B. Funderburg (editors), Endangered and threatened plants and animals of North Carolina. Raleigh: North Carolina State Museum of Natural History. xvi, 444 pp.
1977  [Abstract]. (with A.H. Lindsey). Floral structure and pollinator specialization in three genera of the Apiaceae. Botanical Society of America, Miscellaneous Series Publication 154: 4.
1977  [Abstract]. Umbellet number of pollination efficiency in Daucus carota L. (Apiaceae). ASB Bulletin 24: 36.

1978  (with A.H. Lindsey). The umbel as a reproductive unit in the Apiaceae, pp. [739]-747. In A.-M. Cauwet-Marc and J. Carbonnier (editors.), Les Ombellifères: Contributions Pluridisciplinaires à la Systématique: Actes du 2e Symposium International sur les Ombellifères. Perpignan: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. xix, 865 pp.
1978  [Abstract]. Variation in pollinator efficiency in 5 populations of Asclepias syriaca L. (Asclepiadaceae). Botanical Society of America, Miscellaneous Series Publication 156: 83.

1979 (with J. Morley). Floodplain tree species: A bibliographic literature search with abstracts. Fort Belvoir, Virginia: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Topographic Laboratories. xxv, 286 pp.

1980  [Abstract]. (with J.M. Farmer). Dynamics of pollen flow in Asclepias syriaca L. (Asclepiadaceae), p. 145. In Second International Congress of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology. Vancouver: University of British Columbia. 441 pp.
1980  [Abstract]. (with A.H. Lindsey). Evidence for specialized pollination in Oxypolis greenmanii Mathias & Constance (Apiaceae). Botanical Society of America, Miscellaneous Series
Publication 158: 67.
1980  [Abstract]. (with A.H. Lindsey). Pollinator activity and fruit set in sympatric populations of Osmorhiza (Apiaceae). Botanical Society of America, Miscellaneous Series Publication 158: 11.
1980  [Abstract]. (with A.H. Lindsey). Protogyny and associated reproductive characters in Apiaceae, p. 269. In Second International Congress of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology. Vancouver: University of British Columbia. i, 441 pp.
1980  (with J.T. Kartesz). A summary of the taxa in the vascular flora of the United States, Canada and Greenland. American Journal of Botany 67: 1495-1500.
1980  (with J.T. Kartesz, R. Kartesz, and A.H. Lindsey). Synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland, Vol. II: The Biota of North America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. xlviii, 498 pp.
1980  (with R. Kane). An anomalous rhizomatous population of Cicuta maculata L. at Mountain Lake, Virginia. Castanea 46: 4-7.

1981 [Abstract]. (with A.H. Lindsey). Wasp pollination in Oxypolis (Apiaceae). ASB Bulletin 8: 75.
1981  [Abstract]. (with A.H. Lindsey). Floral structure and differential insect visitation in two sympatric species of Osmorhiza (Apiaceae). ASB Bulletin: 75.

1982  (with B.J. Taylor). Florida wild flowers and roadside plants. Laurel Hill Press, Chapel Hill, N.C.  xxi, 308 pp.
1982  (with L.J. Musselman). Unilateral hybridization in Aureolaria Raf. (Scrophulariaceae). American Journal of Botany 69: 647-649.

1985  (with A.H. Lindsey). Reproductive biology of Apiaceae. II. Cryptic specialization and floral evolution in Thaspium and Zizia. American Journal of Botany 72: 231-247.
1985 
(with J. Farmer). A new combination in Asclepias. Phytologia 57: 380.
1985  (with K. Moore, editors). Growing and propagating wild flowers. By Harry R. Phillips. With contributions by Rob Gardner and Charlotte A. Jones-Roe in collaboration with the staff of the
North Carolina Botanical Garden. Edited by C. Ritchie Bell and Ken Moore. Illustrations by Dorothy S. Wilbur. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. x, 331 pp
.
1985  [Introduction], pp. xiii-xiv. In John K. Terres From Laurel Hill to Siler’s Bog: The walking adventures of a naturalist. With Illustrations by Charles L. Ripper and a New Introduction by C.
Ritchie Bell. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. xix, 227 pp
.

1986  (with J.M. Farmer and S.C. Price). Population, temperature, and substrate influences on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) seed germination. Weed Science 34: 525-528.

1990  (with A. H. Lindsey). Fall color and woodland harvests: A guide to the more colorful fall leaves and fruits of the eastern forests. Chapel Hill, NC: Laurel Hill Press. 184 pp.
1990  (with B.C. Bennett and R.T. Boulware). Geographic variation in alkaloid content of Sanguinaria canadensis (Papaveraceae). Rhodora 92: 57-69.

1991  (with A.H. Lindsey). Fall color finder: A pocket guide to the more colorful trees of eastern North America. Chapel Hill, NC: Laurel Hill Press. 63 pp.

1993  Fall Color: Trees of the eastern forests. Photography: Anne H. Lindsey, David H. Ramsey. Script: C. Ritchie Bell. Instrumental: Clark Jones. Post Production: David H. Ramsey, Industrial Video and Photography. A Laurel Hill Press Natural History Video. Chapel Hill, NC: Laurel Hill Press. 1 videocassette (30 minutes).

1994  Spring wild flowers of the eastern forests. Photography: Anne H. Lindsey. Script: C. Ritchie Bell. Voice Over: Catherine Smith. Original Music: Alan Kaufman. Original Music: Clark Jones. Post Production: David H. Ramsey. A Laurel Hill Press Natural History Video Guide (Volume I: 1). Chapel Hill, NC: Laurel Hill Press. 1 videocassette (45 minutes).
1994  Summer wild flowers. Photography: Anne H. Lindsey. Script: C. Ritchie Bell. Voice Over: Catherine Smith. Original Music: Alan Kaufman. Original Music: Clark Jones. Post Production: David H. Ramsey. A Laurel Hill Press Natural History Video Guide (Volume I: 2). Chapel Hill,NC: Laurel Hill Press. 1 videocassette (45 minutes).

1996  Woodland Harvest of the Eastern Forests (Laurel Hill, 1996). [incomplete citation]

2005  (with William S. Justice and Anne H. Lindsey). Wild flowers of North Carolina. 2nd edition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. xxxviii, 325 pp.

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“I took my very first botany course at UNC from Ritchie in the first summer session of 1966, and what a life changing experience that was.”
—– Dr. Elizabeth Fortson Wells, Associate Professor of Botany, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 13 March 2013

“When I was a high school student in 1956, my Edneyville High School received a blue ditto flier from the Carolinas Flora Project.  Biology teacher, French Rogers, showed it to me and suggested I might like to help on the collections project for Henderson County.  I did not know anything about plant keys and simply collected plants and filled in a ditto label to be included with the collections.  I was able to construct a plant press from old apple crates, cut up cardboard for ventilators, and was given some blue ink desk pads which were cut into driers.  During the summer between morning and evening milking in the dairy or field work, I picked and dried plants in front of our cooler fans.  At the end of the year I had something over 400 specimens which I boxed up and shipped to UNC herbarium.  Dr. H. R. Totten mailed me a copy of Fernand’s 8th edition of Gray’s Manual of Botany, “To Dan Patillo, Future Botanist”.  It was all “Greek”, rather like Latin, to me but got me started with some common names.  To my and mother’s surprise, early next spring Prof. C. Ritchie Bell comes driving up our half-mile country road on one of his collection trips.  With encouragement, he suggested I go to college.  Already set up to attend Berea, after my initial freshman labor with the dairy I was offered a project collecting the 5,000-acre Berea College forest that firmly established that I would be a botanist and the rest is history.”
—– Dr. J. Dan Pittillo, Professor Emeritus, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC. March 2013

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GRADUATE STUDENTS FOR WHOM C. RITCHIE BELL SERVED AS ADVISOR

Aiuto, Russell.   1963. M.A. Variation correlations in the Phlox carolina – Phlox glaberrima complex.

Baker, Philip Carlton. 1970.   Ph.D. A systematic study of the genus Vaccinium L. , subgenus Polycodium (Raf.) Sleumer, in the southeastern United States.

Bauer, Paul J. 1986.   Ph.D. Bumblebee pollination on a southern Appalachian grass bald and narcotic nectar in Angelica triquinata (Apiaceae).

Bennett, Bradley Charlton . 1988.   Ph.D. A comparison of life history traits in selected epiphytic and saxicolous species of Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae) from Florida and Peru.

Bostick, Peter Edward.   1966. Ph.D. A systematic study of the genus Rhexia.

Bradley, Ted Ray.   1965. M.A. Variation in mixed populations of Specularia perfoliata (L.) A.DC. and Specularia bifora (R. & P.) Fisch. & Mey. Growing in North Carolina.

Bradley, Ted Ray.   1967. Ph.D. Hybridization and variation in the species of Triodanis from North America.

Dorr, Laurence J. 1980. M.A.   The reproductive biology and pollination ecology of Zenobia (Ericaceae).

Drapalik, Donald Joseph.   1970. Ph.D. A biosystematic study of the genus Matelea in the southeastern United States.

Farmer, Janis M.   1982. M.A. Pollination and fertilization effectiveness in Asclepias syriaca L. (Asclepiadaceae).

Frantz, Vonda L. 1984. M.S.   Reproductive biology of the Atlantic coast plain endemic, Lysimachia asperulaefoliae (Primulaceae).

Gleaves, Charles T. 1979.   M.S. An investigation of hybridization between two birches in North Carolina.

Hinton, William Fred. 1968.   M.A. The taxonomic status of Physalis lanceolata in the Carolina Sandhills.

Kondo, Katsuhiko.   1971. M.A. A comparison of variability in Utricularia cornuta Michx. and Utricularia juncea Vahl.

Kowalczyk, Bruno Florian.   1973. M.A. The pollination ecology of Hedysarum alpinum L. var. americanum Michx. and H. boreale Nutt. var. mackenzii (Richards.) C.L. Hitchc. In the Kluane Lake area of the Yukon Territory, Canada.

Lindsey, Anne Haskell. 1975.   M.A. Classification versus characterization in Thaspium and Zizia (Apiaceae).

Lindsey, Anne Haskell. 1979.   Ph.D. Pollination and breeding system studies in Thaspium and Zizia (Apiaceae).

Mathen, Oravackal Mathal. 1963. Ph.D.   A taxonomic comparison of Aureolaria, Agalinis and Tomanthera.

Mehrhoff, Loyal Archie III.   1980. M.A. The reproductive biology of the genus Isotria (Orchidaceae) and the ecology of Isotria medeoloides.

Mueller, Anna Maria.   1979. Ph.D. An evolutionary study of Coreopsis section Palmatae (Compositae).

Mueller, Sabina Gertrud. 1968.   Ph.D. The taxonomic significance of cuticular patterns and leaf morphology in populations of Vaccinium ericaceae.

Moore, Julie.   1976. M.S. Reproductive potential of the hemiparasite Agalinis purpurea (L.) Pennell.

Nesom, Guy L. 1970.   M.A. Variation in Erigeron flagellaris Gray and its presumed relatives endemic to south-western Utah.

Nesom, Guy L. 1980.   Ph.D. A revision of the epappose species of Erigeron (Asteraceae – Astereae).

Otte, Deborah K. Strady. 1978.   M.A. The pollination ecology of Hexastylis arifolia (Michx.) Small var. arifolia and H. minor (Ashe) Blomquist (Aristolochiaceae) in the area of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Rogers, Judith Lee.   1965. M.A. Variation studies on three Cuscuta species of subsection arvenses in the Southeast.

Snider, Jerry A.   1969. A variation study of Agalinis decemloba (Greene) Pennell and Agalinis obtusifolia Raf. in the Carolinas.

Spongberg, Stephen A.   1971. Ph.D. A systematic and evolutionary study of North American arctic and alpine monocephalous species of Erigeron (Compositae).

Stevenson, John Court. 1972.   Evolutionary strategies and ecology of Goodyera and Spiranthes species (Orchidaceae).

Treiber, Miklos.   1980. Ph.D. Biosystematics of the Arisaema triphyllum complex.

Windler, Donald Richard.   1970. Ph.D. Systematic studies in Crotalaria sagittalis L. and related species in North America (Leguminosae).

 

This page was originally authored by Ron Gilmour with the assistance of Mr. Bill Burk, Mrs. Mary Felton, Dr. Jim Massey, and Mr. Jim Murphy.
Updates and edits have been made by Carol Ann McCormick.