Winsome Fanny Barker (23 September 1907 – 27 December 1994) was a South African

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 ...

and

plant collector Plant collecting is the acquisition of plant specimens for the purposes of research, cultivation, or as a hobby. Plant specimens may be kept alive, but are more commonly dried and pressed to preserve the quality of the specimen. Plant collecting i ...

noted for her work as Curator building the collection at the herbarium of the

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden 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 A ...

, as well as her research on

Amaryllidaceae The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus ''Amaryllis'' and is commonly known as the amaryllis fa ...

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 ...

and

Haemodoraceae Haemodoraceae is a family of perennial herbaceous flowering plants with 14 genera and 102 known species. It is sometimes known as the "bloodwort family". Primarily a Southern Hemisphere family, they are found in South Africa, Australia and New ...

Biography

Barker was born in Jamestown,

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

to Joseph Barker (of

Seaham Seaham is a seaside town in County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and c ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

) and his wife Beatrice (née Cusens). The family moved to

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

where she matriculated at East London Girls High School. Barker went on to complete a BSc in

botany 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 w ...

and

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

at Rhodes University College in 1928. The

Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns The Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK) (literally ''South African Academy for Science and Arts'') is a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to promoting science, technology and the arts in Afrikaans, as well as promoting ...

awarded her the Junior Captain Scott medals in both subjects as she had attained the highest marks in her class. She was offered a scholarship to complete a MSc in botany but declined in favour of the Edward Muspratt Solly Scholarship offered by the

, starting in 1929. Agapanthus africanus1

During the two years of her scholarship, Barker was supervised by H.M.L. Bolus in her studies including

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. ...

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

maintenance and fieldwork. She spent from February 1931 to July 1933 at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

broadening her herbarium experience. She returned to Kirstenbosch in 1933 and was appointed Botanical Assistant to the Director working in the

Bolus Herbarium The Bolus Herbarium was established in 1865 from a donation by Harry Bolus of his extensive herbarium and library to the South African College, which later became the University of Cape Town. Its collection of specimens numbers over 320 000, mak ...

, until it was agreed to relocate it to 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 ...

in 1934 (the relocation only happened in 1938). In 1935 Barker began to accumulate specimens for an independent herbarium for Kirstenbosch, although the trustees of the National Botanic Gardens only officially resolved to create the herbarium four years later in 1939 after the Bolus herbarium had moved. The first annual budget of the herbarium was £350 for salaries and equipment. Barker was appointed as head of the herbarium in 1940. By the time she retired the herbarium contained more than specimen sheets, every one of which she had personally scrutinised. In 1956 the

South African Museum The Iziko South African Museum is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present site in the Company's Garden since 1897. The museum houses important A ...

herbarium, containing specimen sheets, was transferred to Kirstenbosch on permanent loan. In doing so the SA Museum herbarium curator, Dr Joyce Lewis and her assistant also transferred to Kirstenbosch. To accommodate them, Lewis was appointed Research Officer while Barker was appointed Curator, a position she held until her retirement in 1972. Barker was also an accomplished botanical illustrator. Thirty-five of her illustrations were published in '' Flowering Plants of South Africa'' between 1930 and 1938, and the

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 (Nort ...

in London had a set of her watercolour images of ''

Agapanthus ''Agapanthus'' is a genus of plants, the only one in the subfamily Agapanthoideae of the family Amaryllidaceae. The family is in the monocot order Asparagales. The name is derived from Greek: ἀγάπη (''agapē'' – "love"), ἄνθος (' ...

''. The Compton Herbarium at Kirstenbosch held 107 colour images of ''

Lachenalia ''Lachenalia'' is a genus of bulbous perennial plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, which are usually found in Namibia and South Africa. Most of them have a dormancy period, but new roots will always grow every year. ''Lache ...

'' painted by Barker between 1930 and 1950. Barker was also involved in the training of the Edward Muspratt Solly Scholars.

Eponyms

Barker is commemorated in the names of several South African plants, including ''

Leucadendron barkerae ''Leucadendron barkerae'', the Swartberg conebush, is a flower-bearing shrub that belongs to the genus ''Leucadendron'' and forms part of the fynbos. The plant is native to the Western Cape, South Africa. Description The shrub grows tall and ...

'' I. Williams, ''

Haemanthus barkerae ''Haemanthus barkerae'' is a South African bulbous geophyte in the genus ''Haemanthus''. ''H. barkerae'' is found in the Western Cape from the Bokkeveld Mountains near Nieuwoudtville and the foothills of the Roggeveld Mountains, to the Hantamsber ...

'' Snijman, ''

Lachenalia barkeriana ''Lachenalia'' is a genus of bulbous perennial plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, which are usually found in Namibia and South Africa. Most of them have a dormancy period, but new roots will always grow every year. ''Lache ...

'' U. Mull.-Doblies, and ''

Romulea barkerae ''Romulea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, first described as a genus in 1772. It is distributed in Europe, the Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa.M.P. de Vos. She described at least 50 species. '' Acrostemon barkerae'' Compton, '' Conophytum barkerae'' L. Bolus and '' Othonna barkerae'' Compton are named in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Winsome Fanny 1907 births 1994 deaths 20th-century South African botanists South African women botanists 20th-century South African women scientists