Almut Gitter Jones (8 September 1923 – 12 October 2013) was a German-American botanist, mycologist, and plant taxonomist known for her work in taxonomy and plant systematics researching the genus Aster, as well as for her work as curator of the herbarium at the University of Illinois.

Jones was born Almut Gitter in Oldenburg, Germany to Alfred and Emma (née Eickhorst) Gitter. She married fellow botanist George Neville Jones in Urbana, Illinois in 1958. She died in Urbana, Illinois in 2013.

A fly pollinating a Alkali-marsh aster.
A fly pollinating the Alkali-marsh aster (Almutaster pauciflorus syn. Aster pauciflorus), Aster family (Asteraceae). Meadow Hot Springs, Millard County, Utah.

She described over fifty species, and the genus Almutaster of the family Asteraceae was named for her in 1982. According to the database Bionomia, Almut identified at least 1,678 specimens from at least nine countries, collected 723 specimens, and 937 of these specimens have been used in at least 51 published works. Although her collecting covers many species, the majority are from the family Asteraceae. The standard author abbreviation A.G.Jones is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. In her work as curator in 1997, Jones co-authored An annotated catalogue of types of the University of Illinois mycological collections (ILL), documenting the herbarium's fungal type specimens.

Almutaster pauciflorus, Utah Lake Wetland Preserve near Goshen, Utah County, Utah. The monotypic genus Almutaster was named for Jones.

Publications

Solo Authored:

  • Jones, Almut G. “A Classification of the New World Species of Aster (Asteraceae).” Brittonia, 1980.
  • Jones, Almut G. “A Study of Wild Leek, and the Recognition of Allium Burdickii (Liliaceae).” Systematic Botany, 1979.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Addendum to an Annotated Catalogue of Type Specimens in the University of Illinois Herbarium (ILL) -- Piperaceae.” Phytologia, 1990.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Aster and Brachyactis in Illinois.” Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin, 1989.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Aster Ericoides L. East of the Mississippi River.” American Midland Naturalist, 1974.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Aster Section Ericoidei Correct for the Species Group That Includes the Type of Aster Ericoides L.” Taxon, 1983.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Chromosomal Features as Generic Criteria in the Astereae.” Taxon, 1985.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Data on Chromosome Numbers in Aster (Asteraceae), With Comments on the Status and Relationships of Certain North American Species.” Brittonia, 1980.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Environmental Effects on the Percentage of Stainable and Presumed Normal Pollen in Aster (Compositae).” American Journal of Botany, 1976.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Errata: A Classification of the New World Species of Aster (Asteraceae).” Brittonia, 1981.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Lectotypification of Aster Jessicae Piper: A Rebuttal.” Taxon, 1987.
  • Jones, Almut G. “New Data on Chromosome Numbers in Aster Section Heterophylli (Asteraceae) and Their Phylogenetic Implications.” Systematic Botany, 1977.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Nomenclatural Changes in Aster (Asteraceae).” Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 1983.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Nomenclatural Notes on Aster (Asteraceae)—III. The Status of a. Sandwicensis.” Brittonia, 1984.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Nomenclatural Transfer from Aster to Machaeranthera (Asteraceae).” Systematic Botany, 1983.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Observations on Reproduction and Phenology in Some Perennial Asters.” American Midland Naturalist, 1978.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Observations on the Shape and Exposure of Style Branches in the Astereae (Compositae).” American Journal of Botany, 1976.
  • Jones, Almut G. “The Status of Aster Adsurgens E.L. Greene.” Taxon, 1975.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Typification of Aster Jessicae Piper and Reinstatement of A. Mollis Rydberg (Asteraceae).” Madroño; a West American journal of botany, 1984.
  • Jones, Almut G. “Virgulus Raf. Vis-à-Vis Aster L. (Asteraceae).” Taxon, 1982.

Co-Authored:

  • Bell, David T., and Almut G. Jones. Vascular Plants of the Sangamon River Basin; Annotated Checklist and Ecological Summary, 1974.
  • Crane, J. L., and Almut G. Jones. An Annotated Catalogue of Types of the University of Illinois Mycological Collections (ILL), 1997.
  • Crane, J. L., and Almut G. Jones. “Nomenclatural and Taxonomic Revisions in the Meliolaceae.” Mycotaxon, 2001.
  • Jones, Almut G., and Warren F. Lamboy. “Lectotypification of Lepianthes Raf. (Piperaceae): A Different Viewpoint.” Taxon, 1986.
  • Jones, Almut G., and Porter Prescott Lowry. “Types and Selected Historic Specimens of Aster s.l. (Asteraceae) in the Herbarium, Laboratoire de Phanérogamic, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (P).” Bulletin Du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 1986.
  • Jones, Almut G., and David S. Seigler. “Flavonoid Data and Populational Observations in Support of Hybrid Status for Populus Acuminata.” Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 1975.
  • Jones, Almut G., and David A. Young. “Generic Concepts of Aster (Asteraceae): A Comparison of Cladistic, Phenetic, and Cytological Approaches.” Systematic Botany, 1983.
  • Lamboy, Warren F., and Almut G. Jones. “Lectotypifications and Neotypifications in Aster Section Biotia (Asteraceae), Including a Complete Annotated Synonymy.” Brittonia, 1987.
  • Lowry, Porter P., and Almut G. Jones. “Biosystematic Investigations and Taxonomy of Osmorhiza Rafinesque Section Osmorhiza (Apiaceae) in North America.” American Midland Naturalist, 1979.
  • Lowry, Porter P., and Almut G. Jones. “Nomenclatural Notes on Osmorhiza Rafinesque (Apiaceae) and Two Proposals for Additions to Article 34 of the Code.” Taxon, 1977.
  • Lowry, Porter Prescott, and Almut G. Jones. “Systematics of Osmorhiza Raf. (Apiaceae: Apioideae).” Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 1984.
  • Shildneck, Paul, and Almut G. Jones, Viktor Muhlenbach. "Additions to the Vouchered Records of Illinois Plants and a Note on the Occurrence of Rumex Cristatus in North America," 1981.
  • Sundberg, Scott and Almut G. Jones. “Loudon’s ‘Hortus Britannicus’ (1830): An Early Source of Sectional Names, Necessitating Nomenclatural Changes in Many Genera. Aster: A Case in Point.” Taxon, 1987.

External links