Biography

German plant collector and pharmacist who settled in Tennessee. Ferdinand Rugel was born in Ravensburg in Württemberg, Germany, and was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Berne, Switzerland. Later working in this city as a pharmacist in his own right, he met British botanist R.J. Shuttleworth and they developed a close working relationship. Rugel began to collect, both for himself and for Shuttleworth to sell, and gathered plant specimens extensively in France and Switzerland. In 1838-1839 he undertook botanising trips to the eastern Pyrenees and the Piedmont region of northern Italy, advertising the plants he had gathered for sale in Flora in 1840.

Through his association with Shuttleworth, Rugel travelled to the USA in 1840 and explored the southern Appalachian Mountains. Collecting in Portsmouth, Virginia, and the mountains of North Carolina, he moved on to Jefferson County, Tennessee. In 1843 he botanised in southern Alabama and the north of Florida. Originally intending to spend only a few years in America, Rugel married Laura Bell in 1845 and they settled near Dandridge, Tennessee, bringing up a total of 12 children. He continued his botanical collecting, still sending specimens back to Shuttleworth for sale in Europe, and worked as a pharmacist and physician in between these excursions. Rugel visited Florida again in 1846, Georgia and the banks of the Altamaha in 1848 and in 1849 even collected in Cuba, particularly in Matanzas Province. In 1849 he moved to Knoxville and worked for many years for a wholesale drug firm. At this time his collecting subsided somewhat and his excursions took him no further than the Great Smokey Mountains of eastern Tennessee, save for one trip in 1878 to Austin County, Travis County and Dallas County in Texas.

Sources:
J.X. Corgan, 1978, "Notes on Tennessee's Pioneer Scientists", Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science, 53: 2-7
F.G. Meyer and S. Elsasser, 1973, "The 19th century herbarium of Isaac C. Martindale", Taxon, 22(4): 375-404.

Biography

German plant collector and pharmacist who settled in Tennessee. Ferdinand Rugel was born in Ravensburg in Württemberg, Germany, and was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Berne, Switzerland. Later working in this city as a pharmacist in his own right, he met British botanist R.J. Shuttleworth and they developed a close working relationship. Rugel began to collect, both for himself and for Shuttleworth to sell, and gathered plant specimens extensively in France and Switzerland. In 1838-1839 he undertook botanising trips to the eastern Pyrenees and the Piedmont region of northern Italy, advertising the plants he had gathered for sale in Flora in 1840.

Through his association with Shuttleworth, Rugel travelled to the USA in 1840 and explored the southern Appalachian Mountains. Collecting in Portsmouth, Virginia, and the mountains of North Carolina, he moved on to Jefferson County, Tennessee. In 1843 he botanised in southern Alabama and the north of Florida. Originally intending to spend only a few years in America, Rugel married Laura Bell in 1845 and they settled near Dandridge, Tennessee, bringing up a total of 12 children. He continued his botanical collecting, still sending specimens back to Shuttleworth for sale in Europe, and worked as a pharmacist and physician in between these excursions. Rugel visited Florida again in 1846, Georgia and the banks of the Altamaha in 1848 and in 1849 even collected in Cuba, particularly in Matanzas Province. In 1849 he moved to Knoxville and worked for many years for a wholesale drug firm. At this time his collecting subsided somewhat and his excursions took him no further than the Great Smokey Mountains of eastern Tennessee, save for one trip in 1878 to Austin County, Travis County and Dallas County in Texas.

Sources:
J.X. Corgan, 1978, "Notes on Tennessee's Pioneer Scientists", Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science, 53: 2-7
F.G. Meyer and S. Elsasser, 1973, "The 19th century herbarium of Isaac C. Martindale", Taxon, 22(4): 375-404.

Biography

German plant collector and pharmacist who settled in Tennessee. Ferdinand Rugel was born in Ravensburg in Württemberg, Germany, and was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Berne, Switzerland. Later working in this city as a pharmacist in his own right, he met British botanist R.J. Shuttleworth and they developed a close working relationship. Rugel began to collect, both for himself and for Shuttleworth to sell, and gathered plant specimens extensively in France and Switzerland. In 1838-1839 he undertook botanising trips to the eastern Pyrenees and the Piedmont region of northern Italy, advertising the plants he had gathered for sale in Flora in 1840.

Through his association with Shuttleworth, Rugel travelled to the USA in 1840 and explored the southern Appalachian Mountains. Collecting in Portsmouth, Virginia, and the mountains of North Carolina, he moved on to Jefferson County, Tennessee. In 1843 he botanised in southern Alabama and the north of Florida. Originally intending to spend only a few years in America, Rugel married Laura Bell in 1845 and they settled near Dandridge, Tennessee, bringing up a total of 12 children. He continued his botanical collecting, still sending specimens back to Shuttleworth for sale in Europe, and worked as a pharmacist and physician in between these excursions. Rugel visited Florida again in 1846, Georgia and the banks of the Altamaha in 1848 and in 1849 even collected in Cuba, particularly in Matanzas Province. In 1849 he moved to Knoxville and worked for many years for a wholesale drug firm. At this time his collecting subsided somewhat and his excursions took him no further than the Great Smokey Mountains of eastern Tennessee, save for one trip in 1878 to Austin County, Travis County and Dallas County in Texas.

Sources:
J.X. Corgan, 1978, "Notes on Tennessee's Pioneer Scientists", Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science, 53: 2-7
F.G. Meyer and S. Elsasser, 1973, "The 19th century herbarium of Isaac C. Martindale", Taxon, 22(4): 375-404.