Robert J. "Rob" Bates (born 1946) is an Australian botanist, plant collector, and illustrator.

Biography

Bates grew up in Mylor, South Australia, and has been living in Fairview Park, Adelaide for more than 40 years. Professionally, Bates is primarily known for his interest in

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, in particular, the study of South Australian

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

, where he has described at least 68 species.

Publications

His publications include: * 1978. Pollination of orchids – Part 9. Self pollination. ''Journal of the Native Orchid Society of South Australia'' 3, 7–8. * 1982. Observations of pollen vectors on '' Caladenia congesta.'' ''Journal of the Native Orchid Society of South Australia'' 6, 37–38. * 1984a. The ecology and biology of '' Caladenia rigida'' (''

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

''). ''South Australian Naturalist'' 56–59, 63–65. 58, * 1984b. Pollination of ''

Caladenia ''Caladenia'', commonly known as spider orchids, is a genus of 350 species of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Spider orchids are terrestrial herbs with a single hairy leaf and a hairy stem. The labellum is fringed or toothed in most s ...

'': an overview. ''Orchadian'' 7, 269–270. * 1984c. The genus ''Microtis''''.'' (''Orchidaceae''). A Taxonomic revision with notes on Biology. ''

Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace, Adelaide, North Terrace (between Lot Fourteen, the site of the old ...

''. 7, 45–89. * 1985a. Checklist of Australian Terrestrial Orchid Hybrids. ''Journal of the Native Orchid Society of South Australia'' * 1985b. Colourful ''

Thelymitra ''Thelymitra'', commonly known as sun orchids, is a genus of more than 100 species of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Unlike most other orchids, sun orchids lack a highly modified labellum and all three petals are similar in size, shap ...

'' hybrids. ''Orchadian'' 8, 119–121. * 1990. (with J.Z. Weber) ''Orchids of South Australia. '' Handbook of the Flora and Fauna of South Australia. *1991 (with D.L. Jones) ''Australian Orchid Research'' 2: 77. * 1995. The species of ''

Wurmbea ''Wurmbea'' is a genus of perennial herbs in the family Colchicaceae, native to Africa and Australia. There are about 50 species, with about half endemic to each continent. Recently the circumscription of the genus ''Wurmbea'' has been increa ...

'' (''

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fair ...

'') in South Australia. ''Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens'' 16. * 1996. Little known South Australian Spider Orchids. ''Orchadian'' 12, 29–32. *1999. Self pollinated sun orchids of the ''

Thelymitra pauciflora ''Thelymitra pauciflora'', commonly called the slender sun orchid in Australia and maikaika or maika in New Zealand is a species of orchid in the family Orchidaceae. It is one of the most widespread and common orchid species in Australia, growin ...

'' – '' T. longifolia'' alliance in Australia. ''The Orchadian'', 13(2): 65–68. * 2007. A review of South Australian ''Wurmbea'' (''

Colchicaceae Colchicaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes 15 genera with a total of about 285 known species according to Christenhusz and Byng in 2016. Description The family is characterized by the presence of colchicine. Taxonomy The APG III ...

-Liliaceae''): keys, new taxa and combinations, and notes. ''Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens'' 21. * 2008. New combinations in ''

Pterostylis ''Pterostylis'' is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Commonly called greenhood orchids, they are terrestrial, deciduous, perennial, tuberous, herbs found in Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New Caledo ...

'' and ''Caladenia'' and other name changes in the ''Orchidaceae'' of South Australia. ''Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.'' 22. *2010 The ''Thelymitra pauciflora'' R.Br. complex (Orchidaceae) in South Australia with the description of seven new taxa. ''Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.'' 24.

References

External links

Robert John Bates
at Wikispecies
Robert John Bates
at The International Plant Names Index
Journal Search for Bates
(18 articles) at Swainsona and Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 20th-century Australian botanists Botanists active in Australia 1946 births Botanical collectors active in Australia Living people {{Australia-botanist-stub