Edmund Frederic "Heff" Warburg (22 March 1908 – 9 June 1966) was an English botanist, known as the co-author of two important British floras.

Early life and education

Warburg was born in London on 22 March 1908, son of Sir Oscar Emanuel Warburg, businessman and later chairman of the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

, and his wife, Catherine ''née'' Byrne. His father was a member of the distinguished German–Jewish Warburg family that included botanist Otto Warburg and

Otto Heinrich Warburg Otto Heinrich Warburg (, ; 8 October 1883 – 1 August 1970), son of physicist Emil Warburg, was a German physiologist, medical doctor, and Nobel laureate. He served as an officer in the elite Uhlan (cavalry regiment) during the First World War, ...

the Nobel Prize–winning physiologist. His father was an enthusiastic amateur botanist, and the garden of their house at

Headley, Surrey Headley is a village and civil parish in the North Downs in Surrey, England. The nearest settlements are, to the west, Mickleham and Leatherhead; to the north, Ashtead and Langley Vale; to the east, Walton-on-the-Hill; and to the south, Box H ...

, contained a large collection of plants, particularly

Cistus ''Cistus'' (from the Greek ''kistos'') is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species (Ellul ''et al.'' 2002). They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean region ...

Berberis ''Berberis'' (), commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world (apart from Australia). Species diversity is greatest in South Amer ...

, and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s. Warburg went to school at Marlborough College, then won a scholarship in mathematics to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. He transferred to natural sciences and was subsequently elected a senior scholar. In 1930 he was awarded a first class in part two of the

natural sciences tripos The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, ...

, with

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

as his main subject. While still an undergraduate, he went on a botanical expedition with Tom Tutin and others to the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, some results of which they published in 1932. Warburg was responsible for the introduction to cultivation of

Daboecia ''Daboecia'' , or St. Dabeoc's heath, is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, containing two evergreen shrubs, closely related to the genus '' Erica''. They are native to cliffs and heathland in southern Atlantic Europe and ...

cantabrica ssp. azorica, a plant new to science. He was also at this time developing his lifelong interest in the bryophytes. Before graduating, Warburg collaborated with his father in writing an account of the genus

. Meanwhile, he prepared a thesis on the cytotaxonomy of the

Geraniales Geraniales is a small order of flowering plants, included within the rosid subclade of eudicots. The largest family in the order is Geraniaceae with over 800 species. In addition, the order includes the smaller Francoaceae with about 40 speci ...

, on the strength of which he was made a research fellow of Trinity in 1933 and was awarded his PhD in 1937. He was elected as a

fellow of the Linnean Society 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 ...

in 1934.

Career

In 1938 Warburg became assistant lecturer at Bedford College, London, but during the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

in 1941 he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and was attached to the photographic interpretation unit at

RAF Medmenham RAF Medmenham is a former Royal Air Force station based at Danesfield House near Medmenham, in Buckinghamshire, England. Activities there specialised in photographic intelligence, and it was once the home of the RAF Intelligence Branch. Durin ...

in Buckinghamshire. After the war, he returned to Bedford College, then in 1948 moved to the department of botany at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

as demonstrator in botany and curator of the herbarium. Here his first task was to move of the herbarium from the house of its founder,

George Claridge Druce George Claridge Druce, MA, LLD, JP, FRS, FLS (23 May 1850 – 29 February 1932) was an English botanist and a Mayor of Oxford. Personal life and education G. Claridge Druce was born at Potterspury on Watling Street in Northamptonshire. ...

, in Crick Road to the newly built botany school. He developed the reputation of a patient teacher and a dedicated field botanist, with a wide knowledge of the British flora. He joined with

Arthur Roy Clapham Arthur Roy Clapham (24 May 1904 – 18 December 1990), was a British botanist. Born in Norwich and educated at Downing College, Cambridge, Clapham worked at Rothamsted Experimental Station as a crop physiologist (1928–30), and then took a te ...

and Tom Tutin in writing the ''Flora of the British Isles'' (1952, 1962), the first comprehensive scientific flora of Britain to be produced for seventy years, which became the standard work on the subject. A briefer ''Excursion Flora'' (1959) from the same authors was equally successful. In 1964 he was made

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

plant taxonomy Plant taxonomy is the science that finds, identifies, describes, classifies, and names plants. It is one of the main branches of taxonomy (the science that finds, describes, classifies, and names living things). Plant taxonomy is closely allied ...

at Oxford and elected a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of New College. From 1946 he was an active member of the

Botanical Society of the British Isles The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) is a scientific society for the study of flora, plant distribution and taxonomy relating to Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The society was founded as the Bo ...

. He was a member of its council, and from 1949 to 1960 he was editor of its journal, Watsonia. In 1960 he was elected an honorary member and was president from 1965 until his death. From 1946 he had been a recorder of mosses for the

British Bryological Society The British Bryological Society is an academic society dedicated to bryology, which encourages the study of bryophytes ( mosses, liverworts and hornworts). It publishes the peer-reviewed ''Journal of Bryology''. History The Society developed f ...

and was its president from 1962 to 1963. In 1963 he edited for them the third edition of ''A Census Catalogue of British Mosses''. His name is also commemorated in a moss, '' Molendoa warburgii''. He was active with botanical advice outside the academic world. He was a founder member of the

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Naturalists' Trust The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a The Wildlife Trusts partnership, wildlife trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England. The trust was formerly called the Berksh ...

and later a vice-president; one of their properties, rich in interesting flora, was in 1967 named the '' Warburg Reserve'' in his memory.Oxford Times 12 December 2008
/ref> He advised the

Oxford Preservation Trust The Oxford Preservation Trust was founded in 1927 to preserve the city of Oxford, England. The Trust seeks to enhance Oxford by encouraging thoughtful development and new design, while protecting historic buildings and green open spaces. The T ...

and Oxford city on trees and shrubs; the city council named ''Warburg Crescent'' after him in 1969.

Personal life

Warburg was generally known by colleagues and friends as "Heff", partly in punning references to his initials "E. F." but also with the suggestion of

Heffalump A Heffalump is a type of elephant-like character in the Winnie the Pooh stories by A. A. Milne. Heffalumps are mentioned, and only appear, in Pooh and Piglet's dreams in ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' (1926), and seen again in ''The House at Pooh Corner'' ...

, for he was physically a big man. In 1948 he married Primrose Barrett. They had two sons and a daughter. He died from heart disease in the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, on 9 June 1966.

Sources

*
obituary at bsbi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warburg, Edmund Frederic 1908 births 1966 deaths 20th-century British botanists Academics of the University of Oxford Fellows of New College, Oxford Academics of Bedford College, London Members of the British Bryological Society