The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Ravenel, Henry William

RAVENEL, Henry William, American botanist: b. Berkeley, S. C., 19 May 1814; d. Aiken, S. C., 17 July 1887. He was graduated from South Carolina College in 1832, made a life study of the fungi and cryptogams and became one of the best botonical authorities in the United States. He made a critical study of the phænogams of South Carolina, was botanist of the government commission to Texas in 1869 and was agricultural editor of the Weekly News and Courier. The genus Ravenelia of the Uredineæ is named in his honor. He was credited with being the only American after the Rev. Moses A. Curtis, who knew specifically the fungi of the United States. The University of North Carolina gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1886. He wrote &lsquo;Fungi Caroliniani Exsiccati&rsquo; (1853-60); and with M. C. Cooke &lsquo;Fungi Americani Exsiccati&rsquo; (1878-82).