Born on a farm in
Ingham County, Michigan, Burton Longyear moved, at the age of 18, with his parents and brother to
Mason, Michigan, the county seat of Ingham County. He clerked in a pharmacy owned by his brother and eventually became a registered pharmacist. In 1890 he enrolled to study botany and chemistry at the State Agricultural College of Michigan, which was renamed
Michigan Agricultural College in 1909 and Michigan State University in 1964. At the State Agricultural College, he became in 1893 an instructor of botany ==Selected publications==