Vasey, George

va'si, George (1822-1893), an American botanist. He was a native of Scarborough, England, but he was brought to this country by his parents when an infant. He began life for himself as a practicing physician at Elgin, Illinois. Being interested in botany he was privileged to accompany the Powell expedition of 1868 to Colorado. In 1873 he became botanist of the department of agriculture at Washington. His specialty was grasses. Several government monographs covering the new species found in the western part of the United States gave him rank as the highest world authority on grasses. See Gray