Charles Austin Gardner (6 January 1896 – 24 February 1970) was an English-born

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n botanist.

Biography

Born in Lancaster, in England, on 6 January 1896, Gardner emigrated to Western Australia with his family in 1909, where they took possession of land at Yorkrakine. Gardner showed an interest in

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

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 ...

from youth, becoming engrossed in his state museum's copy of Bentham's ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published be ...

'' (London, 1863-78) and received encouragement from the government's botanist Desmond Herbert and botanical artist

Emily Pelloe Emily Harriet Pelloe (3 May 1878 – 15 April 1941) was a botanical illustrator, and author of books, of the flowering plants of Western Australia. Her work in watercolour, extensive illustrations, and English language descriptions were included ...

. After a BSc in Biology, he was appointed a botanical collector for the Forests Department in 1920, and the following year was engaged as botanist on the Kimberley Exploration Expedition, resulting in his first publication, ''Botanical Notes, Kimberley Division of Western Australia'', which gave descriptions for twenty new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. In 1924 he transferred to the Department of Agriculture, and following a departmental re-organisation in 1928 he was appointed Government Botanist and Curator of the State Herbarium. During this time he also wrote on botanical topics in governmental and public Western Australian media, including the remote students educational publication '' Our Rural Magazine''. His Wildflowers of Western Australia'', published by

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

in the 1940s went to over twenty editions.

Travels and publications

He travelled widely and published around 320 papers, the most important of which were ''Contributions to the Flora of Western Australia'' in ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'' (from 1923), '' Enumeratio Plantarum Australiae Occidentalis'' (1930), a census of the state's plants, and ''Flora of Western Australia Volume 1, Part 1, Gramineae'' (1952). He described eight genera and around 200 new species. In 1937 he became the first Australian Botanical Liaison Officer 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 ...

. His published works and contributions include, * (with H.W. Bennetts), (1956) ''The Toxic Plants of Western Australia'', Perth, West Australian Newspapers. * Lane-Poole, C. E, ''A primer of forestry, with illustrations of the principal forest trees of Western Australia''. 1922.

Legacy

Gardner was awarded the Medal of the

Royal Society of Western Australia The Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA) promotes science in Western Australia. The RSWA was founded in 1914. It publishes the '' Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'', and has awarded the Medal of the Royal Society of Western ...

in 1949, and the

Clarke Medal The Clarke Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales, the oldest learned society in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, for distinguished work in the Natural sciences. The medal is named in honour of the Reverend William Branw ...

of the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1961. He retired in 1962, and died from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

Subiaco, Western Australia Subiaco (known colloquially as Subi) is an inner- western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. Historically a working-cl ...

, on 24 February 1970, aged 74. His personal botanical collection was bequeathed to the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Community at

New Norcia New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, but was transferred to the State Herbarium in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

in June 1970.

References

* *

Biography

Travels and publications

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading