Charles Schäffer

Charles Schäffer (February 4, 1838 – November 23, 1903) was an American physician and botanist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

His father, Charles Schäffer, was a wholesale druggist and his mother was Priscilla Morgan, daughter of Stacey K. Potts, an old Philadelphia merchant.

His early education was received from a private tutor, who prepared him for the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated in medicine in 1859.

In 1890, he married Mary Townsend Sharples, who was his companion on his explorations and was deeply interested in his scientific work.

[1] Under his guidance, Sharples reproduced the rarer plants in watercolor and photography; these were published after Schäffer's death, the illustrations being Mrs. Schäffer's and the letter-press that of the botanist Stewardson Brown under the title Alpine Flora of the Canadian Rocky Mountains (1907), published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York.