American botanist and collector of more than 45,000 herbarium specimens. Dorr has carried out much research in the Andes and is the author of Plant Collectors in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands (1997). Laurence Joseph Dorr, known as Larry, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and initially studied English literature as an undergraduate at Washington University, St Louis. His plans soon changed after taking an extended break during which he trekked the Appalachian Trail and hitchhiked to Alaska, collecting alpine plants on the adventure.

Returning to university and inspired by his travels, Dorr switched subjects to earth and planetary sciences and in 1980 gained an MA in botany from the University of North Carolina. He went on to take his PhD at the University of Texas, Austin, which he completed in 1983. Following this he worked in Madagascar for the Missouri Botanical Garden (1983-1986) before being appointed lecturer in biology at the University of Texas.

Dorr proceeded to undertake research in the Andes on behalf of the New York Botanical Garden (1988-1991) and settled at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, in 1991 as an associate curator. At the Smithsonian his chief focus has been the flora of Venezuela, in particular compiling a manual of the vascular flora of the Parque Nacional Guaramacal in the northern Andes.

Dorr's other research interests include the evolution of the Malvales (especially the tropical taxa formerly ascribed to Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae), systematics of Ericaceae (especially tropical African and Malagasy taxa) and the history of botanical exploration in the Malagasy area. Dorr's Plant Collectors in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, published in 1997, is a near comprehensive bibliography of more than 1,000 collectors who have been active in Madagascar and Comoro up to the time of publication.

Dorr's own collecting career has been significant; he is the principal collector of about 45,000 herbarium specimens (9,000 numbers mostly in sets of five) and co-collector of another 7,500 specimens with L.C. Barnett (TEX) in Madagascar, J.L. Luteyn (NY) in Bolivia, B.G. Stergios D. (PORT) in Venezuela, and others. Kew holds an ethnobotanical collection amassed by Dorr, labelled Medicinal Plants of Madagascar. His most important sets are at Missouri (Malagasy) New York (Andean), BioCentro-UNELLEZ in Venezuela (Andean), Madagascar's Parc de Tsimbazaza (Malagasy), Texas (Mexican and USA) and the Smithsonian (Andean). Eight species are named after him. Dorr's eldest son, Matthew Dorr, is also keen on botany and accompanies him on collecting trips.

Sources:
Personal communication, November 2011.