Arthur Wallis Exell OBE (21 May 1901, in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

– 15 January 1993, in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

) was initially an assistant and later Deputy Keeper of Botany at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

during the years 1924–1939 and 1950–1962. A noted

cryptographer Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

and phytogeographer, he was notable for his furthering of botanical exploration in tropical and sub-tropical Africa, and was an authority on the family

Combretaceae The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Myrtales. The family includes about 530 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in ca 10 genera. The family includes the leadwood tree, ''Combret ...

. Exell's formal education started at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, and then King Edmund's School in Birmingham. From there he went on to

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

and was awarded an M.A. in 1926, having joined the British Museum as a second-class assistant on 11 August 1924, eventually becoming Deputy Keeper of Botany in 1950. He was entrusted with the Polypetalae, although his first paper was a morphological study of the

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some ...

in three species of fungus. Exell's first contact with Africa was in 1932/3 when he travelled to the islands in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

–

São Tomé and Principe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

Bioko Bioko (; historically Fernando Po; bvb, Ëtulá Ëria) is an island off the west coast of Africa and the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea. Its population was 335,048 at the 2015 census and it covers an area of . The island is located of ...

and

Annobón Annobón ( es, Provincia de Annobón; pt, Ano-Bom), and formerly as ''Anno Bom'' and ''Annabona'', is a province (smallest province in both area and population) of Equatorial Guinea consisting of the island of Annobón, formerly also Pigalu a ...

. His reports on the expedition were published in 1944 as a ''"Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of S. Tome"'', which for many years served as the standard reference to the islands' flora. The expedition also acquainted Exell with the Portuguese botanists Luis Carrisso and Francisco de Ascensão Mendonça of

Coimbra University The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...

. Accompanied by them and his wife, Exell launched into a study of the flora of

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, at that time a Portuguese colony. Also in their group was

John Gossweiler Johannes Gossweiler (24 December 1873, in Regensdorf – 19 February 1952, in Lisbon) aka John Gossweiler or João Gossweiler, was state botanist to the Government of Angola from 1899 until his death. He made important collections in every di ...

(1873–1952), the government botanist in Angola. During the journey Carrisso suffered a fatal heart attack. Exell continued his collaboration with Coimbra University and

Mendonça Mendonça () is a Portuguese and Galician surname of Basque origin. It sometimes appears as the anglicized forms ''Mendonca'' or ''Mendonsa''. The Spanish variant is Mendoza. The name has been often linked with royalty. The name may refer to: ...

, publishing the first volume of the ''"Conspectus Florae Angolensis"'' (1937–1951). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Exell's knowledge of Portuguese – he was also fluent in French and German – led to his being seconded to the Government Communications Headquarters at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

, and working as a cryptographer in Cheltenham. Returning to the British Museum (Natural History) in 1950, he founded the 'Association pour l'Etude Taxonomique de la Flore d'Afrique Tropicale' (AETFAT) and started the ''

Flora Zambesiaca ''Flora Zambesiaca'' is an ongoing botanical project aimed at achieving a full account of the flowering plants and ferns of the Zambezi River basin covering Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and the Caprivi Strip, and is published by ...

'' project, the flora covering the catchment area of the

Zambesi River The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

, which at the time comprised the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

, Bechuanaland, the

Caprivi strip The Caprivi Strip, also known simply as Caprivi, is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia. It is surrounded by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a s ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. He visited the region in 1955 with Mendonça to make further collections. He was co-editor of ''Flora Zambesiaca'' from 1962 onwards, and was awarded a D.Sc. by the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...

in Portugal in 1962. In 1971 the Portuguese government conferred on him the 'Comendador Da Ordem De Santiago da Espada'. He also received the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1961, and was a member of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

and other scientific societies. Exell left the British Museum as Deputy Keeper of Botany in 1962. While

remote work Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...

ing, he carried out part-time work for the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

. On his retirement, he and his wife moved to the village of

Blockley Blockley is a village, civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about northwest of Moreton-in-Marsh. Until 1931 Blockley was an exclave of Worcestershire. The civil and ecclesiastical paris ...

in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

, becoming involved in local affairs.

Associates

* Mendonça, Francisco de Ascencão (1889–1982) (co-collector) * Wild, Hiram (1917–1982) (co-collector) * Gossweiler, John (1873–1952) (co-collector) * Carrisso, Luis Wettnich (1886–1937)

Family

Arthur and his brothers Maurice Herbert Exell (1905–1966) and Ernest George Exell (1907–1986) were the sons of William Wallis Exell (1868 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia – 1938 Amersham, Buckinghamshire) and Jessie Clara Holmes (1869–1956). Arthur married Mildred Alice Haydon (25 January 1905 Wandsworth, London – August 1990 North Cotswolds, Gloucestershire) on 14 August 1929 at

Wandsworth, Surrey Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its n ...

. William Wallis Exell's parents were George Exell (1834–1921) and Sarah Wallis (1844–1909).

Eponymy

Numerous taxa were named in his honour *''

Exellia ''Exellia'' is a genus of extinct spadefish that lived in the Tethys Ocean during the early Paleogene. The adult form is shaped akin to a large spadefish or a short dolphinfish, with very large pelvic fins, and a long dorsal fin starting from i ...

'' Boutique in

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

*''Barleria exellii'' Benoist *''Hermbstaedtia exellii'' (Suess.) C.C.Towns. *''Anisophyllea exellii'' P.A.Duvign. & Dewit *''Piptostigma exellii'' R.E.Fr. *''Anthericum exellii'' Poelln. *''Marsdenia exellii'' C.Norman *''Anisopappus exellii'' Wild *''Impatiens exellii'' G.M.Schulze *''Combretum exellii'' Jongkind *''Kalanchoe exellii'' Raym.-Hamet *''Geranium exellii'' J.R.Laundon *''Perlebia exellii'' (Torre & Hillc.) A.Schmitz *''Phragmanthera exellii'' Balle ex Polhill & Wiens *''Hibiscus exellii'' Baker f. *''Memecylon exellii'' A.Fern. & R.Fern. *''Tridactyle exellii'' P.J.Cribb & Stévart *''Pavetta exellii'' Bremek. *''Psychotria exellii'' R.Alves, Figueiredo & A.P.Davis *''Sabicea exellii'' G.Taylor

Publications

*''Mr. John Gossweiler's Plants from Angola and Portuguese Congo, 1926–1929'' (Jl. of Bot., Suppl.) *''Two new species of Terminalia from the Austral Islands and Mangareva'' (1936) *''Parmi d'autres auteurs Conspectus Florae Angolensis'' (1937) *''Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of S. Tome (with Principe and Annobon)'' (1944) *''A Revision of the Genera

Buchenavia ''Buchenavia'' is a genus of plant in family Combretaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete): * ''Buchenavia grandis'', Ducke * ''Buchenavia hoehneana'', N. Mattos * ''Buchenavia iguaratensis'', N. Mattos * ''Buc ...

and Ramatuella'' (Bulletin of the British Museum) – with Clive Anthony Stace (1963) *''Joanna Southcott at Blockley and the Rock Cottage Relics'' (1977) * *''History of the Ladybird: With some Diversions on This and That'' (1989) *''Old Photographs of Blockley, Chipping Campden, Chipping Norton and Moreton in Marsh'' – Arthur Wallis Exell (1983)
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References

External links