Mary Douglas Tindale (19 September 1920 – 31 March 2011) was an Australian botanist specialising in

pteridology A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...

(ferns) and the genera '' Acacia'' and ''

Glycine Glycine (symbol Gly or G; ) is an amino acid that has a single hydrogen atom as its side chain. It is the simplest stable amino acid ( carbamic acid is unstable), with the chemical formula NH2‐ CH2‐ COOH. Glycine is one of the proteinog ...

''. Tindale was born in

Randwick, New South Wales Randwick is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Ra ...

, the only child of George Harold Tindale and Grace Matilda Tindale. She attended primary school in New York while her father served as British Ambassador to the United States. She returned to Sydney, Australia to attend high school at

Abbotsleigh , motto_translation = Time Flies Faster than a Weaver's Shuttle , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Anglic ...

. Tindale earned a B.Sc. in Botany with Honours from Sydney University, as well as a master's degree from the same university. She became Assistant Botanist at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney is a heritage-listed major botanical garden, event venue and public recreation area located at Farm Cove on the eastern fringe of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government ar ...

in 1944 and later served as the

Australian Botanical Liaison Officer Australian Botanical Liaison Officer was a secondment position, held for up to twelve months by an Australian botanist (or expert in Australian botany) at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, England in the United Kingdom. The position was c ...

at 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 ...

from 1949–1951. After completing her Doctor of Science, she was appointed the first principal research scientist at

NSW Public Works NSW Public Works (or New South Wales Public Works), an agency of the Government of New South Wales, was responsible for providing expert advice to government and professional services to government agency clients in New South Wales, Australia. T ...

. She retired from the Gardens in Sydney in 1983 after 39 years of service there. Tindale died in 2011.

References

Botanists with author abbreviations Botanists active in Australia Women botanists Australian Botanical Liaison Officers 1920 births 2011 deaths University of Sydney alumni Australian women scientists 20th-century British women scientists People educated at Abbotsleigh {{Australia-botanist-stub