Ian Charleson Hedge (18 August 1928 – 7 August 2022) was a Scottish botanist at the
Royal Botanic Gardens in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. Hedge made important contributions to the flora of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, and was a recognised authority on the flora of south-west Asia. He named more than 300 new plant species.
Biography
Hedge spent seven months collecting in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
in 1957 with
Peter Davis. Together they gathered more than 6,000 specimens.
Then he spent 3 months in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
with (a Norwegian botanist)
Per Wendelbo
Per Wendelbo.
Per Wendelbo (5 September 1866 – 26 February 1937) was a Norwegian newspaper editor.
He was born as Peder Haraldsen in Skien as a son of Peder Haraldsen, Sr. (1813–1887) og Caroline Mathilde Pedersen (1828–1907). In May 1890 ...
, they made significant collections to the Garden Herbarium in 1962 in the north and north-east of the country and then he returned in 1969 with Wendelbo and Lars Ekberg. They were one of the first botanists to explore the area.
He described ''
Salvia buchananii
''Salvia buchananii'', or Buchanan's sage, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial or subshrub that was only found in the wild in the northeastern extreme of the state of Querétaro, Mexico, aft ...
'' in the ''
Botanical Magazine
''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''.
Each of the issue ...
'' in 1963.
In 1982, he published a book about
Salvia
''Salvia'' () is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous plant, herbaceous perennial plant, perennials, and annual plant, annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, ''Salvia'' is part of the ...
's, which recognised up to 86 species.
In 1986, Ian and
Professor Karl Rechinger published ''Plant life of South-West Asia'' by the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
, it was dedicated to Karl Heinz Rechinger on his eightieth birthday.
By 1988, he was the curator of the Botanical Garden Herbarium.
He collected in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
in the 1990s.
[ Then with Fatima Sales, he published ']Jasione
''Jasione'' is a genus of flowering plants within the family Campanulaceae which are native to Europe.
Four species have been found in Turkey and west Mediterranean areas.
Species include:
* '' Jasione amethystina''
* '' Jasione bulgarica''
* ' ...
L. taxonomy and phylogeny' in 2002. Also 'Three perplexing names of species of Campanula L.' and 'The taxonomy and conservation of Campanula primulifolia (Campanulaceae), a critically endangered species in the Iberian Peninsula' in 2010 (with Anna Trias-Blasi, Eddie, William M.M. and Michel Möller).
He contributed to 'The Davis Festschrift' (edited by Kit Tan) on Peter Hadland Davis's 70th birthday and his own 60th Birthday in 1989.
In 1999, he was honoured by the naming of ''Ianhedgea
''Ianhedgea'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Brassicaceae. It only contains one species, ''Ianhedgea minutiflora'' (Hook.f. & Thomson) Al-Shehbaz & O'Kane
Its native range is from Iran to Central Asia and Tibet. ...
'', a genus of flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
s belonging to the family Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The le ...
from central Asia and Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
.
He is mentioned in Mabberley
Professor David John Mabberley , (born May 1948) is a British-born botanist, educator and writer. Among his varied scientific interests is the taxonomy of tropical plants, especially trees of the families Labiatae, Meliaceae and Rutaceae. He i ...
's Plant-book of 2003 and his ''The Plant-book: A Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants'' (in 1990).
In 2010, with other members of the Royal Botanical Garden, he identified various plant specimens for Mark Price's book 'Animal Re-introductions: The Arabian Oryx in Oman'.
On 31 January 2012, he appealed (on behalf of the Royal Botanic Garden) via the BBC to the Pakistani government to release more than 4,000 copies of a botany text book destined for Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
schools and environmental groups. The 10 tonnes of books had been held at customs in Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
for the past year.[ It is the 'Field Guide Afghanistan Flora and Vegetation', written by Ian and Siegmar-Walter Breckle in 2010.]
Other sources
* M. Alam, 2009, "Plant Collectors in Afghanistan", Bulletin de la Société vaudoise des Sciences naturelles, 91(3): 327-329
* K. Tan (ed.), 1989, Plant taxonomy, phytogeography and related subjects. The Davis & Hedge Festschrift.
* Kent, D.H. & Allen, D.E., Brit. Irish Herb. (1984)
Bibliography
* Studies in the Flora of Afghanistan by Ian Charleson Hedge and Per Wendelbo, 1963
* Flora Iranica: Capparidaceae - Volume 68 (Ian Charleson Hedge - 1970)
* Index of collectors in the Edinburgh Herbarium / edited by I. C. Hedge and J. M. Lamond, Edinburgh Herbarium, 1970
* Plant life of South-West Asia. Edited by Peter Hadland Davis, Peter Charles Harper and Ian Charleson Hedge (1971),
* Flora Europea (Ian Charleson Hedge - 1972) [
* A revision of Salvia in Africa and the Canary Islands. (Ian Hedge - 1974)][
* Flora of Cyprus. Ian C Hedge (R.D. Meikle -editor), Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, 1985
* Umbelliferae / I.C. Hedge editor, Karl Heinz Rechinger Hedge, Ian C. (Ian Charleson) 1987
* Plant Taxonomy, Phytogeography and Related Subjects: Davis and Hedge Festschrift by P. H. Davis, Ian Charleson Hedge, Kit Tan and R.R. Mill (2 Nov 1989)
* Chenopodiaceae (Ian Hedge) 1997
* Labiatae (Ian Charleson Hedge, S. I. Ali, Yasin J. Nasir - 1990 )
* Flora of Pakistan. No. 204, Chenopodiaceae (Heiko Freitag, Ian Charleson Hedge, S. M. H. Jafri) 2001
* Cruciferae (Brassicaceae), Ian Hedge, The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department, 1997.][
]
References
External links
Has photo of Ian Hedge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedge, Ian Charleson
1928 births
2022 deaths
Scottish botanists
People from Edinburgh