BURBANK, LUTHER. – American botanist, b. in 1849, d. in 1926. He was the first in the United States to devote himself to selection and hybridization, with remarkable results. He supported the action of the environment on hereditary constitution. “There can be no possible doubt,” he says, “that every plant form that exists on this earth has been modified and is being modified through the effect of the environment” (L. Burbank, An Architect of Nature, London 1939, p. 139).
BIBL.: B.’s life is prefaced to the Italian translation of his work entitled: Come si educano le piante, Milan 1941. Luigi Scremin