Peter Shaw Green (11 September 1920–17 August 2009) was an English botanist.

Early life

Green was born in Rochester, Kent, the youngest son of John and Elizabeth (née Hainsworth) Green, his father a civilian engineer with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. He was educated at

Taunton School Taunton School is a co-educational independent school in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18. The current headmaster is Lee Glaser, appointed in the aut ...

, before studying botany at King's College London. His studies were interrupted by the Second World War, in which he served as an Adjutant (Captain) in the

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution ...

, initially training recruits to shoot, but later joining his regiment in Italy, where he contracted typhoid. Upon recovery, he was despatched to Greece. In 1946, while still in uniform, he married Winifred Brown, whom he had met at King's College before the war. After demobilization, he returned to his studies at King's College.

Career

After graduation, Green was appointed Assistant Lecturer at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

before joining the

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

in 1952. In 1961, he moved to the Arnold Arboretum of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

to become Horticultural Taxonomist, but returned to England in 1966 to join the Herbarium of 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 1,100 ...

, ultimately rising to the rank of Deputy Director and Curator. Both institutions had special links to the botany of China, and between 10 May and 18 June 1978 Green visited China as host of the Academia Sinica with John Simmons, curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Retirement

Upon obligatory retirement in 1982, Green continued his researches at Kew as an Honorary Research Fellow, concentrating on his favourite flora,

Oleaceae Oleaceae, also known as the olive family, is a taxonomic family of flowering shrubs, trees, and a few lianas in the order Lamiales, It presently comprises 28 genera, one of which is recently extinct.Peter S. Green. 2004. "Oleaceae". pages 2 ...

and '' Jasminium''. He continued to serve as Vice-President of the Kew Guild, becoming President from 1982 to 1983. He also travelled widely, notably to the islands of the western Pacific, whose flora had preoccupied him during his career at Kew.

Awards

* Kew Medal, 1984 *

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

King's College, 1997

Publications

* * * * *

References

External links

1920 births 2009 deaths Alumni of King's College London Botanists active in Kew Gardens British botanists People educated at Taunton School Royal Northumberland Fusiliers officers {{UK-botanist-stub