Gordon Douglas Rowley (1921–2019) was a British botanist and writer specialising in cacti and succulents.

Personal life

Rowley was born on 31 July 1921 in London, UK to Cecil and Florence Gladys (née Goldsworthy) Rowley. He went to The Lower School of John Lyon, Harrow-on-the Hill. In 1942 he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in botany from King's College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He died 11 August 2019.

Career

From 1948 to 1961 Rowley was employed at the

John Innes Horticultural Institution The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity (No 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and B ...

while it was based at Merton Park to curate the National Rose Species Collection and subsequently all the plant collections. From 1961 to 1981 he was lecturer in Horticultural Botany at the University of Reading. Cacti and succulents had been one of Rowley's interests since the mid-1940s but they became the focus of his life. He travelled extensively to see and collect cacti and succulents in Africa and southern America. He developed his own collection of these plants as well as antiquarian books about this group. He was a founder member of the International Organisation for Succulent Plant Research, and from 1952 to 1982 edited the society's
Repertorium Plantarum Succulentarum
', a list of new succulent plant names published each year. Rowley was the inaugural President of the British Cactus and Succulent Society in 1983 and continued in this role until 2004. He was also the editor of the society's journal ''Bradleya'' from 1993 to 2000.

Publications

Rowley was author or co-author of over 300 publications including 20 books as well as both popular and scientific articles. These included: *Rowley, Gordon (1959) Flowering Succulents.Farnham, Surry. *Rowley, Gordon (1968) Cissus and Cyphostemma: A short review of succulent Vitaceae, with check-list of names of species. *Rowley, Gordon (1974 - 1976) (editor) Pierre J. Redoute's Les Roses. Facsimile edition. Four volumes. *Rowley, Gordon (1978) Illustrated Encyclopedia of Succulents. A Guide to the Natural History of Cacti and Cactus-like Plants. Salamander Publications, New York. Also Dutch, French, German, Italian and American editions. *Rowley, Gordon (1978) Reunion of the Genus Echinopsis. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Succulents. New York: Crown Publishing. . *Rowley, Gordon (1980) Name that Succulent. Stanley Thornes Ltd, Cheltenham. *Rowley, Gordon (1983) Intergeneric hybrids in succulents. *Rowley, Gordon (1983) Adenium and Pachypodium Handbook. British Cactus and Succulence Society, Oxford. *Rowley, Gordon and John Thomas Bates (1985) The Haworthia Drawings of John Thomas Bates. Succulent Plant Trust, Buckhurst Hill. *Rowley, Gordon (1987) Caudiciform and Pachycaul succulents: Pachycauls, Bottle-,Barrel-And Elephant-Trees and Their Kin a Collector's Miscellany. Strawberry Press, Mill Valley, California, USA. *Rowley, Gordon (1992) Succulent Compositae: Senecio & Othonna. Strawberry Press, Mill Valley, California, USA. *Rowley, Gordon (1992) Didiereaceae, Cacti of the Old World. Oxford. *Rowley, Gordon (1995) Anacampseros, Avonia, Grahamia. Oxford. *Rowley, Gordon (1997) A History of Succulent Plants. Strawberry Press, Mill Valley, California, USA. *Rowley, Gordon (1999) Pachypodium and Adenium. Southampton. *Rowley, Gordon (2003) Crassula, A Grower's Guide. Cactus and Co libre, Venegono, Italy. Also Russian and Italian editions. *Rowley, Gordon (2006) Teratopia: The World of Cristate and Variegated Succulents. Cactus and Co libre, Tradante, Italy. Also Italian edition. *Rowley, Gordon (2017) Succulents in cultivation - breeding new cultivars. British Cactus and Succulence Society, Hornchurch, Essex.

Awards and honours

String of Beads (Senecio rowleyanus) (3424158397)

Rowley was awarded Life membership of the National Cactus and Succulent Society in 1981 after becoming a Fellow in 1956. From 1966 to 1976 Rowley was President of the African Succulent Plant Society. In 1979 Rowley was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal by the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

for his work with cacti and succulents. He was awarded the Allan Dyer Prize by the Succulent Society of South Africa in 2001, and the Myron Kimnach Lifetime Achievement Award by the

Cactus and Succulent Society of America The Cactus and Succulent Society of America (CSSA) is a horticultural society which is based in Claremont, California. History The CSSA was founded in 1929 in Los Angeles County, at Pasadena, California and has grown to encompass over 80 affil ...

in 2013. Plants named after him include: *''

Curio rowleyanus ''Curio rowleyanus'', syn. ''Senecio rowleyanus'', is a flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is a creeping, perennial, succulent vine native to the drier parts of southwest Africa. In its natural environment its stems trail on the ...

'' (syn. ''Senecio rowleyanus'' H.Jacobsen 1968), also called the string-of-pearls or string-of-beads. *''Lobivia rowleyi'' I.Itô 1957 *'' Pygmaeocereus rowleyanus'' Backeb. 1962 *''Echinopsis rowleyi'' H.Friedrich 1974

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Gordon 1921 births 2019 deaths 20th-century British botanists Plant collectors Veitch Memorial Medal recipients Alumni of King's College London Academics of the University of Reading