The tapping experiments extended through two seasons. His work was a combination of conservation and economics. Raw chicle soon became one of the principal exports and in 1930, the U.S. importation of chicle had risen to 14 million pounds -- a retail value of more than $100 million.

Dr. Lundell loved Mayan culture and archaeology as well as botany. In the fall of 1931, at 24, he continued his sapodilla experiments, studying and collecting the flora of southern Campeche, Mexico. Travel into the Mayan area deep in the forest was only possible by the narrow roads and trails.

On the morning of December 29, Lundell and his assistant were cutting their way through wild and lonely jungles in an uncharted area of Campeche 70 miles north of the Guatemalan border. He discovered a large monolith and, for three days he and his assistant explored the site, discovering 65 stelae -- more than any ever found in any other Mayan city -- and two great pyramids.

From 1931-33 Dr. Lundell discovered 16 ancient cities and explored numerous other Mayan cities. For the next 11 years he directed botanical expeditions to Guatemala, Mexico, and British Honduras for the Carnegie Institution of Washington and University of Michigan -- all this time studying the flora and researching the fall of the Mayan civilization.

He and his wife also found some 450 Guatemalan plants, among which were the parents of such crop plants as squash, pinto beans, chili peppers, and cacao. In fact, Dr. Lundell thought his research on the plant life in this area he called "the food cradle of the Western world" was far more important than the discovery of 16 ancient cities.

Years of research of the Mayan civilization helped guide Dr. Lundell's vision and recognize the long-term benefits of conserving our natural heritage. He ignored the all-too-familiar voice saying, "You have to pay the price." He wasn't interested in paying prices but in benefits. You don't pay the price for good health, you enjoy the benefits of good health -- you pay the price for bad health.

Dr. Lundell said years ago after much research of the Mayan culture, "The fate of the Maya was the fate of their soul." You don't pay the price for a healthy environment, or a wealth of biodiversity, you enjoy the benefits of a healthy environment and a wealth of biodiversity. You pay the price for a deteriorated environment and a "Sinking Ark."

Dr. Lundell was committed to saving the Texas blacklands, a natural heritage. While studying the environmental background of the Maya, he found the blackland soils of the Maya region to be similar to those of his boyhood home south of Austin, Texas, which his grandfather had brought under the plow. Through his interests in archaeology and botany, Dr. Lundell began a crusade related to his roots: saving the Texas blacklands in 1944.

He began working to reverse the depletion of north Texas prairies through the establishment of the Institute of Technology and Plant Industry. Two years later the institute was chartered as the privately supported Texas Research Foundation. What began at SMU in 1944 continues today in the same spirit as the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT).

A few other highlights in Dr. Lundell's long list of achievements:

- Discovered and named over 2,000 plants, many of them Texas natives

- Started the botanical journal Wrightia; authored or co-authored over 200 scientific and popular papers, various books, including Flora of Texas, and sponsored publication of the Manual of Vascular Plants of Texas

- Trustee, Carver Foundation

- Member Agricultural Board, National Academy of Science, National Research Council, Washington

- Awarded Guatemala's greatest honor, the Order of Quetzal, commemorating 50 years of research in botany, agriculture, and Mayan Archaeology (1981)

(Based on a memorial presentation delivered at the First Annual International Excellence in Botany Award of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, February 21, 1995.)

Article copyright American Botanical Council.

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By Barney Lipscomb