Harley Harris Bartlett

Harley Harris Bartlett (March 9, 1886 – February 21, 1960) was an American botanist, biochemist, and anthropologist. He was an expert in tropical botany and an authority on Batak language and culture.

Early life Bartlett was born in Anaconda, Montana on March 9, 1886. His family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1899, and he was enrolled in Shortridge High School. It was here where he cultivated his interests in botany, geology, and chemistry. After his graduation, he remained at the school as an assistant in botany and chemistry.

Bartlett returned to Sumatra in 1927, and became fascinated by the culture and language of the Batak of Asahan. He became a leading authority and an adopted chief of the tribe. He made many collecting trips to South America, as well as in Taiwan, Haiti, and the Philippines. Between 1934 and 1935, Bartlett was an exchange professor at the University of the Philippines. In 1941, Bartlett successfully transported 4,800 Hevea brasiliensis plants to Haiti, helping establish the Société Haitiano-Américaine de Développement Agricole. In 1948, he was named educational consultant for the Philippines in the United States, and a chairman of the Commission on the Philippines. He continued to study rubber production, and introduced high-yielding rubber plants from the Philippines into Haiti and encouraged the cultivation of guayule in parts of South America.

Legacy He is commemorated in the name of three genera, Harleya, Bartlettina and Siraitia, and many species, including Anemia bartlettii, Buxus bartlettii, Rhipsalis bartlettii, and Panicum bartletii.

The herbarium at the University of Michigan holds his collections of over 60,000 specimens. In 1955, the Department of Botany established the Harley Harris Bartlett Plant Exploration Fund as a way to finance botanical field trips.