Leslie Charles "Larry" Leach (18 November 1909 Southend – 18 July 1996 Pietersburg) was a

Rhodesian Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

taxonomic botanist. Leach arrived in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

in 1938 and carried on business in Salisbury as an electrical engineer. He developed an interest in succulent plants, particularly

Stapelieae The genera of plants within the tribe Stapelieae are all to varying degrees stem succulents. Many of the species resemble cacti, though are not closely related, as an example of convergent evolution. The stems are often angular, mostly four-ang ...

, Euphorbieae and the genus ''

Aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wid ...

''. He gave up the business world in 1956 and devoted himself to a self-financed taxonomic study of the three groups with a special interest in the "'' Flora Zambesiaca''" region. He collected extensively in Mozambique and

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

, also covering Angola, South West Africa and South Africa. Between 1972 and 1981 Leach worked as Honorary Botanist of the staff of Rhodesia's National Herbarium and described himself as 'probably Rhodesia's only unpaid civil servant'. He coerced the ''Aloe, Cactus and Succulent Society of Rhodesia'' into producing a taxonomic series supplementary to ''Excelsa''. Consequently, four volumes, including monographs of the

, ''

Orbea Orbea is a bicycle manufacturer based in Mallabia, Spain. It is part of the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation and Spain's largest bicycle manufacturer. Orbea manufactures and assembles bikes at their own factory in Mallabia, the other models ...

'', '' Stapelia'', ''

Huernia The genus ''Huernia'' (family Apocynaceae, subfamily Asclepiadoideae) consists of perennial, stem succulents from Eastern and Southern Africa and Arabia, first described as a genus in 1810.Brown, Robert. 1810. On the Asclepiadeae 11 The flowers ...

'' and ''

Tridentea ''Tridentea'' is a genus of succulent plant in the family Apocynaceae, endemic to southern Africa. Name and history ''Tridentea'' was first described as a genus in 1812, and its name refers to the three "teeth" on each interstaminal segment of ...

'', were authored by Leach and published between 1978 and 1988. In 1981 he settled in South Africa, working at the National Botanic Garden at Worcester from 1982 to 1989, and finishing his work on the succulent

of Southern Africa, publishing the results in ''Excelsa''. From 1990 he worked as Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Botany at the University of the North near Pietersburg, where, before his death, he worked on the succulent Euphorbieae for ''Flora Zambeziaca''. He was awarded the

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 ...

Medal by the Botanical Society of Southern Africa in 1968, the

Rhodesia Scientific Association Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

's gold medal in 1977 and had fellowship of 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 ...

conferred in 1983. He is commemorated in numerous specific names such as ''Aloe leachii'' Reynolds, ''Huernia leachii'' Lavranos, ''Dombeya leachii'' Wild, the Asclepiad genus ''

Larryleachia ''Larryleachia'' is a genus of stapeliad succulent flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. ;Species * '' Larryleachia cactiformis'' (Hooker) Plowes * '' Larryleachia marlothii'' (N.E. Brown) Plowes * '' Larryleachia perlata'' (Dinter) Pl ...

'' and the Choreocolacaceae genus ''Leachiella'' Plowes. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation L.C.Leach when citing a botanical name.

References

External links

Cactus and Succulent Society of America official websiteThe Larry Leach Collection at the University of Limpopo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Leslie Charles Rhodesian botanists Rhodesian taxonomists 1909 births 1996 deaths Botanists with author abbreviations British emigrants to Southern Rhodesia White Rhodesian people Zimbabwean people of English descent People from Southend-on-Sea 20th-century British botanists