An American Plant Collector in Samsun: Carl Tobey (1918-1991)

Asuman Baytop

Carl Tobey (1918-1991) came from New York to Samsun in 1955 to stay for only one year, but he lived there till the end of his life, acting as a teacher of English in the Turkish lycée, Samsun Anadolu Lisesi. He was fond of planting, gardening and collecting. He sent his plant collection to P.H. Davis (1918-1992), the editor of Flora of Turkey project in Edinburgh. According to the citations of his 1140 specimens accepted in Flora of Turkey (1965-2000), he collected between 1964 and 1969, from 14 North Anatolian provinces, as Zonguldak, Kastamonu, Sinop, Samsun, Ordu, Giresun, Trabzon, Çorum, Amasya, Tokat, Sivas, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, Erzurum. All his specimens in the Flora were numbered, but most undated. Only 9 specimens were bearing a date. His original collection is in Edinburgh. He also has specimens in Kew (K) and in Turkey, in ISTO (982 specimens) and in ISTE (57 specimens). We think that he has collected more than 6000 specimens in Turkey, but believe that only the Herbarium of Edinburgh (E) can tell about the exact or nearly exact number. Tobey is the collector of the types of 7 new taxa. They come from Zonguldak, Sinop, Amasya, Ordu, Giresun, Tokat and Sivas. Two species' names bear the epithet tobeyi: Doronicum tobeyi J.R. Edmondson (the collector is Tobey) and Salvia tobeyi Hedge (the collector is P.Sintenis).

Key words: Turkish flora, botanical collections, collectors, C. Tobey, history of botany. Anahtar kelimeler: Türkiye florası, bitki toplamaları, toplayıcılar, C. Tobey, botanik tarihi.