Person

Womersley, John (1920 - 1985)

Born
1920
Bristol, United Kingdom
Died
2 September 1985
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Botanic gardens director and Systematic botanist

Summary

John Womersley was a botanist who for nearly 30 years worked for the Division of Forests in Lae, Papua New Guinea, becoming Assistant Director of the Division. He had an extensive knowledge of the geography and flora of Papua New Guinea and its close neighbours, much of it gained from exploration on foot. He expanded the Lae Herbarium from a few thousand to over 250,000 specimens. At the same time he developed and became Director of the National Botanical Gardens in Lae. Womersley inaugurated the publications program of the Division, notably with the first of the 3-volume Handbooks of the flora of Papua New Guinea (1978). He was particularly interested in showy species with potential for horticultural purposes, especially Rhododendron, Begonia, Hoya and Tecomanthe. Womersley retired to Adelaide where he continued his taxonomic research on Vireya Rhododendrons, undertook consultancies including for FAO in Bangladesh and Cameroon, and led tours focussed on the flora of Papua New Guinea. More that 20 Papuan species were named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

1930
Life event - Migrated to Australia with his family
1946 - 1975
Career position - Forest Botanist (later Assistant Director), Division of Botany, Papua New Guinea
1975
Life event - Retired to Adelaide
1984
Career position - President, Royal Society of South Australia

Helen Cohn

EOAS ID: biogs/P005951b.htm

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