Mary Knapp Strong Clemens (1873-1968) was an American botanist and plant collector. Born in New York as Mary Knapp Strong, she married Joseph Clemens, a Methodist Episcopalian minister, in 1892. Her husband joined the US Army in 1902 as a chaplain, and served in the Philippines, America, and then France during the First World War, retiring in 1918. During the period spent in the Philippines in 1905-1907, she made extensive trips through Luzon and Mindanao. After her husband's retirement, he became her assistant and the couple worked as a team of professional, full-time botanical collectors. Mary collected the plants while Joseph dried them and prepared them for shipment. |