JEPSON, WILLIS LINN ), American botanist, was born at Vacaville, Calif., on Aug. 19, 1867. Following his graduation at the University of California in 1889 (Ph.D., 1899), he pursued botanical study at Cornell and Harvard universities and also at Kew and Berlin. After serving as assistant in botany in 1891-94, instructor in 1895-98, assistant professor in 1899– 1911 and associate professor in 1911-18, he was made in 1919 professor of botany in the University of California. He made
extensive investigations in the taxonomy, geographic distribution and life-history of Western American seed-plants, especially the flora of California.
His works include Flora of Western Middle California (1901, 2nd ed., 1911) ; The Trees of California (1909, 2nd ed., 1923) ; A Flora of the Economic Plants of California (1924) An Illustrated Manual of the Flowering Plants of California (1925) ; and numerous contributions to scientific journals.