Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian taxonomic

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 ...

. He worked at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney is a heritage-listed major botanical garden, event venue and public recreation area located at Farm Cove on the eastern fringe of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government ar ...

, for the whole of his professional career, as a botanist (1948–1972), Director (1972–1985) and Honorary Research Associate (1986–1997). - originally published in ''Historical Records of Australian Science'', vol.13, no.4, 2001. Alone or in collaboration with colleagues, he distinguished and described four new

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...

s, 33 new

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

, 286 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 ...

(including posthumous publications), and reclassified another 395 species. Of the families he described, Rhynchocalycaceae (with B. G. Briggs, 1985) is accepted by the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disc ...

(APG). Hopkinsiaceae and Lyginiaceae, (which he and B. G. Briggs proposed in 2000 be carved out of

Anarthriaceae The Anarthriaceae are a family of three genera, '' Anarthria'', '' Hopkinsia'' and '' Lyginia'' of flowering plants, now included in Restionaceae following APG IV (2016). The family is accepted in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group's classification ...

), have not been accepted by the APG. Lawrie Johnson died of cancer in 1997. He received many honours and awards, including: *1979 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 The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

*1984 The

Mueller Medal The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British A ...

ANZAAS The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British As ...

*1986 Elected a

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy ...

*1987 Appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) "For service to the science of botany as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney"

Works

* ''A classification of the eucalypts'' with L. D. Pryor, 1971, * ''The names of acacias of New South Wales with a guide to pronunciation of botanical names'' with Norman Hall, 1993, * ''The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney '' with A.N. Rodd, 1978,

References

External links

* Photo of L.A.S. Johnson https://www.flickr.com/photos/17674930@N07/3992450414/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Lawrence Alexander Sidney 1925 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Australian botanists Australian taxonomists Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Australian Botanical Liaison Officers Deaths from cancer in Australia