Oakes Ames - Ormond Beach, FL - Blue Plaques on Waymarking.com

"Oakes Ames, born in 1874, was considered the world’s leading authority on orchids. Professor Ames was on the Harvard faculty from 1900 through the 1940s. He was a founding director of the American Orchid Society. From 1920 through 1950 he maintained a residence in Ormond Beach where he pursued his study of orchids and other plants. In 1947, he and his wife Blanche Ames collaborated on the book Drawings of Florida Orchids, still considered a classic. Professor Ames authored over twenty books and hundreds of articles on orchids and economic botany. He was director of the Arnold Arboretum and curator and director of the Harvard Botanical Museum. He was a friend of David Fairchild, for whom the Miami Fairchild Garden was named. The Oakes Ames Herbarium at Harvard University is considered the most important collection of orchid specimens in the world. He died in 1950. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Ames Park Cottage, 173 South Beach Street, Ormond Beach."