His specialty interest was the Pleurothallidinae (Genus Pleurothallis) and allied species.
[2] Born to Carl & Vera Luer,[1] he was raised in Alton, Illinois and later attended Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, graduating in 1946.
[3] From there he went on to be a surgeon in Sarasota, Florida and upon retirement in 1975 took up the study and botanical illustration of Orchids.
[3] He aided in the foundation of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and was the first editor of their research journal Selbyana.
[2] He was a senior curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden and published numerous articles and two books related to orchid taxonomy.