Lewis Leonard Forman (29 June 1929 – 16 June 1998) was a British botanist, born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. He was an expert on
spermatophyte
A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...
s, particularly
Menispermaceae
Menispermaceae (botanical Latin: 'moonseed family' from Greek ''mene'' 'crescent moon' and ''sperma'' 'seed') is a family of flowering plants. The alkaloid tubocurarine, a neuromuscular blocker and the active ingredient in the 'tube curare' form ...
, and specialised in the plants of
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
.
He graduated from the
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 ...
in 1950 and was appointed to the staff of the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...
in 1951, serving as a senior official there from 1966 to 1989.
Forman was honoured with his eponymous species:
* (
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...
) ''
Glochidion formanii''
Airy Shaw
Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw (7 April 1902 – 1985) was a notable English botanist and classicist.
Airy Shaw was born at The Mount, Grange Road, Woodbridge, Suffolk to a father serving as Second Master at the Woodbridge Grammar School and a mothe ...
* (
Lauraceae) ''
Litsea formanii''
Kosterm.
* (
Melastomataceae
Melastomataceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs, s ...
) ''
Medinilla formanii''
Regalado
* (
Menispermaceae
Menispermaceae (botanical Latin: 'moonseed family' from Greek ''mene'' 'crescent moon' and ''sperma'' 'seed') is a family of flowering plants. The alkaloid tubocurarine, a neuromuscular blocker and the active ingredient in the 'tube curare' form ...
) ''
Stephania formanii''
Kundu & S.Guha
* (Menispermaceae) ''
Tinospora formanii''
Udayan & Pradeep
References
External links
Flora of the Darwin Region
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forman, Lewis Leonard
20th-century British botanists
Alumni of the University of London
1929 births
1998 deaths