William Douglas Francis (6 March 1889 – 2 January 1959) was an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. Born in

Bega, New South Wales Bega () is a town in the south-east of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bega Valley Shire. It is the economic centre for the Bega Valley. Place name One claim is that place name ''Bega'' is derived from the local Aboriginal word meaning "bi ...

, at the age of 17 he moved with his father Alfred, and brother Frederick, from

Wollongong, New South Wales Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

, where he attended Wollongong Superior Public School, to

Kin Kin, Queensland Kin Kin is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Kin Kin had a population of 764 people. In the 2021 census the population had risen to 844. Geography Kin Kin lies between Pomona to ...

. It was here that he was able to satisfy his strong interest in natural history while helping his father and brother on the farm. In 1908 he qualified as a milk and cream tester in Queensland. In 1919 he was appointed Assistant Government Botanist at the

Queensland Herbarium The Queensland Herbarium ( Index Herbariorum code: BRI) is situated at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of Queensland's Department of Environment and Science. It is responsible for disc ...

. By 1950 he was appointed Government Botanist. He retired in 1954 and died five years later. He contributed enormously to the classification and identification of Australian

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

species and is probably best remembered for his book ''Australian Rainforest Trees''. First published in 1929, it has since gone through numerous reprints. An

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

established at

Kin Kin Kin Kin is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Kin Kin had a population of 764 people. In the 2021 census the population had risen to 844. Geography Kin Kin lies between Pomona to ...

in the 1990s is dedicated to his memory.William D. Francis biography
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Undated (accessed 18 February 2007)

References

External links

Spiral systems in the organization of living material
20th-century Australian botanists 1889 births 1959 deaths {{Australia-botanist-stub