Carl Clawson Epling (15 April 1894 – 17 November 1968) was an American botanist and taxonomist.
Epling is best known for being the major authority on the Lamiaceae (mint family) of the Americas from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Epling's first academic position was as an instructor in botany at Oregon State College in 1921–22.
At the time of his death he was studying the flora of Ecuadorian rain forests.
Epling published more than one hundred scientific works ranging from monographs to contributions to local floras, and described numerous genera and species new to science—including the well known psychoactive Salvia divinorum.