Charles Christian Plitt

Who was Charles Christian Plitt?

Charles Christian Plitt was a botanist and lichenologist. Species of lichens that have been named in Charles Plitt's honor are: Pyrenula plittii R.C.Harris, Xanthoparmelia plittii Hale, and Pertusaria plittiana Erichsen.

Plitt graduated from Baltimore City College with honors, and in 1891 received the Graduate degree in Pharmacy from the Maryland College of Pharmacy. In 1921, the degree of Doctor of Science was conferred upon him by the International Academy of Science. He lived in Baltimore, Maryland his entire life.

For more than 36 years, Charles Plitt taught botany and general science in the public schools of Baltimore and for his last twenty years at Baltimore City college. During a portion of this time, Plitt served part-time as a member of the research staff of the Maryland College of Pharmacy. Upon becoming chairman of that institution, he gave up teaching in public schools.

Beginning in the 1890s, Plitt became an avid collector of plants and lichens. He led Saturday afternoon trips around the Baltimore area to botanize and instruct others interested in plant identification. He called these botanical excursions "tramps". Plitt kept accurate notes on each of these trips and eventually accumulated enough data to fill 29 volumes. According to The Sun, a Baltimore newspaper, he made 3,153 tramps between 1899 and 1922. These journals are a priceless record of the varied species of plants which once grew in habitats now buried beneath urban landscapes.