William Dallimore (1871 – 7 November 1959) was an English botanist who published a ''Handbook of Coniferae'' and who played an important role in the start and development of

Bedgebury Pinetum Bedgebury National Pinetum at Bedgebury, Kent, in the United Kingdom, is a recreational and conservational arboretum managed by Forestry England that was established as the National Conifer Collection in 1925 and is now recognised as the most ...

Career

William Dallimore began his career 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 ...

as a student gardener in January 1891.Morgan 2003, p. 269newsitem
in

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

, 13 June 1936, p. 976 He started working in the arboretum, and was appointed propagator in 1892 and assistant curator (at that time called foreman) in 1896. He devoted special attention to the conifers. In 1909Nature 1936
says 1908 Dalllimore was transferred to the Museum staff of Kew. He initiated a museum of forestry, which developed into the Wood Museum later. In 1926 he became the keeper of the Museums of Economic Botany.Howes 1959

''Handbook on Coniferae''

The ''Handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae'' was first published in 1923 and remained a standard work for more than forty years. It was written in cooperation with

Albert Bruce Jackson Albert Bruce Jackson (14 February 1876, in Newbury, Berkshire – 14 January 1947, in Kew) was a British botanist and dendrologist. He worked as an assistant the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1907 to 1910 and later at the British Museum ...

, who prepared the Keys to Genera and Species for the first two editions. The fourth edition (published in 1966, after Dallimore's death) was revised by Sydney Gerald Harrison. An important characteristic of the ''Handbook'' is that it deals with conifers from the point of view of a gardener, forester and student, rather than a botanist. The trees are therefore described in as simple language as possible. The book deals with all known species, and has quite extensive references to

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

Bedgebury Pinetum

Dallimore played a very important part in starting and developing the National Pinetum at Bedgebury in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, a joint undertaking of Kew and the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

. He was the first to draw attention to the bad state of the conifers at Kew in the early 1920s. This finally led to the establishment of a new collection in a part of

Bedgebury Forest Bedgebury Forest is a forest surrounding Bedgebury National Pinetum, near Flimwell in Kent. In contrast to the National Pinetum, which contains exclusively coniferous trees, the forest contains both deciduous and coniferous species. It forms p ...

, supervised by Dallimore. On his retirement from Kew in 1936, he moved to Kent, and continued to supervise the work at Bedgebury Pinetum, almost to the time of his death.

Bibliography

* Dallimore, W. & Thomas Moore (1908). ''Holly, yew and box: with notes on other evergreens''. The Bodley Head / John Lane Cy, London / New York. 284 p. 115 ill. * Dallimore, W & Bruce Jackson (1923/1966).''A Handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae''. First published 1923, second edition 1931, third edition 1948, reprinted 1954, reprinted with corrections 1961, fourth edition 1966 (rev. by S. G. Harrison). Edward Arnold Ltd, London * Dallimore, W. (1926/1945). ''The pruning of trees and shrubs; being a description of the methods practised in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew''. First published 1926, second impression 1927, third impression 1933, new edition 1945. Dulau, Oxford * Dallimore, W., with illustrations by John Nash (1927). ''Poisonous plants, Deadly, Dangerous and Suspect''. * Dallimore, W. (1955/1961). 'The National Pinetum' in: An. (1955/1961) – ''Guide to the National Pinetum and Forest Plots at Bedgebury''. Her Majesty's Stationery Office (2nd/3rd editions), p. 6 – 22 / 7 – 24)

Footnotes

Literature

* Howes, F. N. (1959) – 'Mr. William Dallimore, I.S.O., V.M.H.' (obituary). In: ''Nature: international journal of science''. London: MacMillan Journals, Volume 184, Issue 4700, pag. 1684. * Morgan, C. (2003) – 'The National Pinetum, Bedgebury: its History and Collections' in ''Proceedings of the 4th International Conifer Conference'', Acta Horticulturae 615, sept. 2003, p. 269 – 272

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dallimore, William English botanists English foresters British dendrologists 1871 births 1959 deaths Forestry academics Botanists active in Kew Gardens 19th-century British botanists 20th-century British botanists