Peter Goldblatt (born 1943) is a South African botanist, working principally in the United States.
Life
Goldblatt was born in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
, South Africa on October 8, 1943. His undergraduate studies (B.Sc.) were undertaken at the
University of Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...
in Johannesberg (1965–1966), from where he went on to graduate studies at the
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...
, where he received his doctorate in 1970. He held a position as lecturer in botany at Witwatersrand (1967) and then Cape Town (1968–1971) before emigrating to the United States in 1972. In the US he took up a position as a researcher at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, where he has remained since, holding the position of Senior Curator since 1990. He returned briefly to South Africa in 2006 as a researcher at the
Compton Herbarium
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 ...
, South African National Biodiversity Institute, in Cape Town. He has also held appointments at the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...
, as well as the
University of Portland
, mottoeng = The truth will set you free
, established = 1901
, type = Private university
, religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross)
, endowment = $218 million
, president = Robert D. Kelly
, students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
(2000–2004). He obtained US citizenship in 1978.
Work
Peter Goldblatt started his career as a plant collector in 1962, and worked extensively in
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 ...
, but also in other regions of Africa, Madagascar, the United States, Greece, Italy, Israel, Turkey and Iran, having collected thousands of specimens. His interests lie in systematic
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
. One of his main research interests has been the cytology and taxonomy of the
Iridaceae
Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises, meaning rainbow, referring to its many colours. There are 66 accepted genera with a total of c. 2244 species worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016). It include ...
of Africa. A member of several botanical societies, he was also General Secretary (1982–1985) of the Association for the Taxonomic Study of Tropical African Flora.
In 1999 he was awarded the
International Bulb Society
The International Bulb Society was founded on May 31, 1933 and is an international society dedicated to informing the public about the science, cultivation, conservation and botany of geophytic plants, commonly known as bulbs.
It began in 1933 ...
's
Herbert Medal
The Herbert Medal is awarded by the International Bulb Society to those whose achievements in advancing knowledge of ornamental bulbous plants is considered to be outstanding.bulbous plants. In 2021 he was awarded the Foster Memorial Plaque for his contributions to the genus Iris.
Selected publications
Goldblatt has published a large number of scientific publications, and several books (see C.V.).
; Books
* A revision of the genera ''Lapeirousia'' Pourret and ''Anomatheca'' Ker in the winter rainfall region of South Africa (1972)
* The Moraeas of Southern Africa (Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens) (1996)
* The Genus Watsonia: A Systematic Monograph (Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens) (1989, 1995)
* The Woody Iridaceae: Systematics, Biology and Evolution of Nivenia, Klattia and Witsenia. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon (1993).
* Gladiolus in Tropical Africa: Systematics, Biology and Evolution (1996, 2003)
* Wildflowers of the Fairest Cape (2000)
* Cape plants: A conspectus of the Cape flora of South Africa (Strelitzia) (2000)
* The Woody Iridaceae: Nivenia, Klattia & Witsenia: Systematics, Biology & Evolution (2003)The Woody Iridaceae
* The Iris Family: Natural History and Classification (2008)
* A Revision of the Southern African Genus Babiana, Iridaceae: Crocoideae
Coauthored with
John Charles Manning
John Charles Manning (born 1962) is a South African botanist based in the Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch, South Africa.
References
External sources
20th-century South African botanists
...
:
* Gladiolus in Southern Africa: Systematics, Biology, and Evolution. Fernwood Press, Cape Town. (1998)
* The Complete Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs (2002)
* Crocosmia and Chasmanthe (
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
Plant Collector Guide) (2004).
*
; Book chapters
* In
* Iridaceae. In K. Kubitzki (editor), Families and Genera of Flowering Plants volume 2: 295–335. (1998).
; Articles
*
*
*
*
Legacy
A number of taxa have been named in his honour, including;
* ''
Gladiolus goldblattianus
''Gladiolus'' (from Latin, the diminutive of ''gladius'', a sword) is a genus of perennial cormous flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae).
It is sometimes called the 'sword lily', but is usually called by its generic name (plural ''g ...
International Plant Names Index
The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inclu ...
lists over 1,300 taxa named by him, particularly from the Iridaceae, Scilloideae including
Hyacintheae
Hyacintheae is a flowering plant tribe in the subfamily Scilloideae.
References
* Manning, J.C., Goldblatt, P., & Fay, M.F. (2004) A revised generic synopsis of Hyacintheaceae in sub-Saharan Africa, based on molecular evidence, including new ...
,
Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...
and
Polygalaceae
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in one ...