Catharine Furbish

Catherine 'Kate' Furbish (May 19, 1834 – December 6, 1931) was an American botanist who collected, classified and illustrated the native flora of Maine. She devoted over 60 years of her life, traveling thousands of miles throughout her home state and creating very accurate drawings and watercolor paintings of the plants she found.

She discovered two plants which were named after her: Pedicularis furbishiae (Furbish lousewort) and Aster cordifolius L., var. furbishiae.

Early life and education Kate Furbish was born on May 19, 1834, in Exeter, New Hampshire, the eldest child and only daughter of Benjamin and Mary Lane Furbish. The family relocated to Brunswick, Maine, shortly after her birth. As a child, her father would take Furbish and her five younger brothers for walks in the local woods. Even as a young child, Furbish showed a knack for botany as she was able to identify many of the area's native plants.

Furbish pursued a genteel education in painting and French literature. She studied drawing in Portland and Boston. When asked why she was so interested in "weeds," Furbish quoted Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "We feel the presence of God in Nature there, Nature grand and awful, and tread reverently where all is so hushed and oppressive in its silence." The "pedicularis furbishiae," also known as the furbish lousewart. Pressing of the Pedicularis furbishiae discovered near the Saint John River.

Career and discoveries During the 38 years between 1870 and 1908, Furbish completed the majority of her painting, collecting, and classifying Maine's plant life, traveling thousands of miles across the state. She used information from Goodale's Boston lectures as well as Asa Gray's botany manual to confirm details of some of her discoveries and detailed specific sketches for her future paintings. She often traversed untouched wilderness, and in the process, her self-appointed life task resulted in over 4000 sheets of dried plants and ferns. From 1897 to 1905, Furbish made her now famous sketches of Maine's 500 mushrooms. Another plant that holds her name is the Aster cordifolius L. var. furbishiae.

Legacy and impact In 1908, Furbish decided to distribute her research and work. The "Flora of Maine" was donated to Bowdoin College, while her 182 sheets of pressed ferns were donated to the Portland Society of Natural History, and her 4,000 sheets of dried plants to the New England Botanical Club, now in Harvard University's Gray Herbarium.

In June 2018, the Town of Brunswick, ME announced that a new elementary school in the town will be named in her honor. The Kate Furbish Elementary School will serve students from pre-kindergarten through second grade and opened in the fall of 2020.