Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus ''
née'' Kensit (31 July 1877,
Burgersdorp – 5 April 1970,
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
) was a South African
botanist and taxonomist, and the longtime curator of the
Bolus Herbarium, from 1903. Bolus also has the legacy of authoring more land plant species than any other female scientist, in total naming 1,494 species.
Early life and education
Bolus was born in
Burgersdorp,
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, on 31 July 1877. She was the daughter of William Kensit and Jane Stuart Kensit. Her parents were both British-born. Her grandfather William Kensit was a serious amateur botanist and specimen collector in South Africa. She attended Collegiate Girls' High School in
Port Elizabeth, earned a teaching credential in 1899, and was awarded a BA degree in literature and philosophy by the
University of the Cape of Good Hope
The University of the Cape of Good Hope, renamed the University of South Africa in 1916, was created when the Molteno government passed Act 16 of 1873 in the Cape of Good Hope Parliament. Modelled on the University of London, it offered examinati ...
in 1902.
Career
She worked as an assistant to her great-aunt Sophia's husband
Harry Bolus
Harry Bolus (28 April 1834 – 25 May 1911) was a South African botanist, botanical artist, businessman and philanthropist. He advanced botany in South Africa by establishing bursaries, founding the Bolus Herbarium and bequeathing his library and ...
in his herbarium while she was in college. In June 1913 she became a founding member of the council of the Botanical Society of South Africa; she was also a founding member of the Wild Life Protection Society, and a fellow of the
Royal Society of South Africa
The Royal Society of South Africa is a learned society composed of eminent South African scientists and academics. The society was granted its royal charter by King Edward VII in 1908, nearly a century after Capetonians first began to conceive ...
, 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 ...
, and the
Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science.
She was appointed curator of the
Bolus Herbarium in 1903, and retired from that position in 1955. She hired botanical artist
Louise Guthrie as a staff member at the herbarium.
Her first book, ''Elementary Lessons in Systematic Botany'', was published in 1919. This was followed by two volumes of books on South African flowers. Louisa contributed to a number of botanical journals throughout her life, and edited the ''Annals of the Bolus Herbarium''.
Louisa Bolus spent much of her life doing in-depth research on ''
Mesembryanthemum
''Mesembryanthemum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae; like many members of this family, it is characterized by long-lasting flower heads. Flowers of ''Mesembryanthemum'' protect their gametes from night-time dews or frosts ...
''. Her ''Notes on Mesembryanthemum and Allied Genera'' was published in 1927. This was followed by the publication of three books, covering the detailed Latin descriptions of approximately 1500 plants. In 1936 Louisa was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the
University of Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...
.
A plant belonging to the large family ''Mesembreyanthemum'', genus ''
Kensitia'' was established to honour Bolus's work on the subject. Louisa Bolus made contributions to ''
Flowering Plants of South Africa'', edited by
E. P. Phillips in 1943, and in 1951 she was a guarantor for the publication of ''Wild Flowers of the Cape of Good Hope'' by
Elsie Garrett Rice
Elsie Garrett Rice (25 November 1869 Elton, Derbyshire - 27 April 1959 Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legis ...
and
R. H. Compton. Bolus was also considered a pioneer of the nature study classes at the
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Kirstenbosch is an important botanical garden nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town. The garden is one of 10 National Botanical Gardens covering five of South Africa's six different biomes and administered by the South Af ...
. In 1966, she became vice president of the African Succulent Plant Society.
Bolus studied the
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...
of the area around the
Cape of Good Hope, especially
Ericaceae
The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...
and
Orchidaceae
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
. She frequently published in botanical journals in addition to popular gardening articles and books, notably ''A Book of South African Flora''. She was elected a
Fellow of the
Royal Society of South Africa
The Royal Society of South Africa is a learned society composed of eminent South African scientists and academics. The society was granted its royal charter by King Edward VII in 1908, nearly a century after Capetonians first began to conceive ...
in 1920 and received an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...
. The
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
Bolusanthus
''Bolusanthus speciosus'' (tree wisteria) is a species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It is the only member of the genus ''Bolusanthus'' .
Description
It is a small deciduous tree, which can gr ...
'' and the
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
''
Geissorhiza louisabolusiae
''Geissorhiza'' is a genus with 103 species described to date of deciduous perennial flowering plants in the family Iridaceae first described as a genus in 1803. The entire genus is endemic to Cape Province of western South Africa. The genus name ...
'' are named in her honour.
Personal life
In 1912 Louisa Kensit married Harry Bolus's son (and her father's cousin) Frank Bolus. She was widowed when Frank Bolus died in 1945. Louisa Bolus died at her home in
Claremont, Cape Town in 1970 at the age of 93.
Works
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See also
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:Taxa named by Louisa Bolus
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Timeline of women in science
This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with natural sciences such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women f ...
Notes and references
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolus, Harriet Margaret Louisa
1877 births
1970 deaths
20th-century South African women scientists
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Fellows of the Royal Society of South Africa
People from Burgersdorp
20th-century South African botanists
South African women botanists
University of South Africa alumni
South African taxonomists
South African curators