Henry Andrew Imshaug

Henry Andrew Imshaug (1925–2010) was an American lichenologist notable for work on the genus Buellia and his collection and study of lichens from the Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes region, West Indies and subantarctic islands.

Early life and education Imshaug was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 25 July 1925 but soon moved with his family to New York where he attended the Stuyvesant High School, then, aged 16, moved on to Columbia College, Columbia University. He was a member of the Torrey Botanical Society. However, he left college in 1943 to join the army and was stationed in Hawaii during the Second World War. In 1948 he graduated from Hofstra College in New York with a BA degree. He then went to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and was awarded MS in 1949 and a PhD in 1951.

Imshaug was notable for his many international field visits to collect specimens and collaborate with other lichenologist, as well as his fieldwork in the USA. In 1952 he undertook fieldwork in Jamaica and Granada supported by a Fulbright scholarship.

His collection of lichens of the Great Lakes region from the 1950s onwards form a significant part of the herbarium collection. He identified over 100 new species. and Imsharria. In addition, two bryophyte species have been named after him.

The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names assigned his name to the Imshaug Peninsula (70°53'S 61°35'W) in the Antarctic, a broad, snow-covered cove at the south side of Lehrke Inlet on the east coast of Palmer Land in the Antarctic. This was in recognition of his extensive sub-antarctic research.