Ghillean Prance

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Sir Ghillean Prance
Born
Ghillean Tolmie Prance

(1937-07-13) 13 July 1937 (age 87) [1]
Brandeston, Suffolk, England [1]
NationalityBritish
Alma materKeble College, University of Oxford
Known forDirector of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1988–1999) [2]
Awards
Scientific career
Fields Botany
Institutions New York Botanical Garden (1963–1988) [1]
Thesis A taxonomic study of the Chrysobalanaceae  (1963)
Author abbrev. (botany) Prance
Website edenproject.com/eden-story/about-us/sir-ghillean-prance-frs-vmh

Sir Ghillean Tolmie Prance FRS FLS FRSB (born 13 July 1937) is a prominent British botanist and ecologist [3] who has published extensively on the taxonomy of families such as Chrysobalanaceae and Lecythidaceae, but drew particular attention in documenting the pollination ecology of Victoria amazonica . [4] [5] Prance is a former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. [2]

Contents

Early life

Prance was born on 13 July 1937 in Brandeston, Suffolk, England. [1] He was educated at Malvern College and Keble College, Oxford. [6] In 1957, he achieved BSc Biology. In 1963 he received a D. Phil. in Forest Botany from the Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford. [1]

Career

Prance worked from 1963 at The New York Botanical Garden, initially as a research assistant and, on his departure in 1988, as Director of the Institute of Economic Botany and Senior Vice-President for Science. [1] Much of his career at the New York Botanical Garden was spent conducting extensive fieldwork in the Amazon region of Brazil. In 1973 he coordinated the first Botany Postgraduate Degree held in the Amazon, at National Institute of Amazonian Research, in Manaus. [7] He was Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1988 to 1999. [2]

Later work

He has remained very active in his retirement, notably involving himself with the Eden Project. Prance, a devout Christian, was the chair of A Rocha [8] and was president of Christians in Science 2002–08. [9]

He is actively involved on environmental issues, a trustee of the Amazon Charitable Trust, [6] and a Vice-President of the Nature in Art Trust. [10] He has been president of the UK Wild Flower Society for several years.[ when? ] [11] [12]

Honours

Prance was knighted in 1995. He has been a Fellow of the Linnean Society since 1961, and served as its president in the years 1997–2000. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993, and was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1999. [2] He was awarded the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1994. [13]

In 2000 he was made a Commander of the Order of the Southern Cross by the President of Brazil. [6] In 2012 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays and Neck Ribbon by the Government of Japan. [14]

Legacy

Two photographic portraits of Prance are held at the National Portrait Gallery, London. [15]

In 1984, botanist Dieter Carl Wasshausen published Pranceacanthus , a genus of flowering plants from Brazil and Bolivia belonging to the family Acanthaceae and named after Prance. [16]

A biography of Prance was written by Clive Langmead in 2001. [3]

The standard author abbreviation Prance is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. [17]

Works

Video

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lecythidaceae</span> Family of flowering plants in the order Ericales

The Lecythidaceae comprise a family of about 20 genera and 250–300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.

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Acioa edulis of the family Chrysobalanaceae. is a fruit and timber tree, which is native of Amazon Rainforest vegetation in Brazil. The trees grow naturally only within a small area of Brazil. However, they proliferate widely within this area. The tree is around 25 meters tall, with entire leaves that are oval or round, measuring three or four inches in diameter, with a petiole up to one inch in length. Its fruits range from 8-9 centimeters in length and 4-5 centimeters in diameter. and contain a single nut. Later these nuts float on the waters and have been collected for centuries as the source of a valuable oil, but their source was unknown until 1978 when botanical explorer Ghillean Prance discovered the species of tree which produces them.

<i>Gustavia</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

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Moquilea fasciculata is a species of plant in the family Chrysobalanaceae. It is endemic to Panama.

Hunga is a genus of plants in the family Chrysobalanaceae described by British botanist Ghillean Prance in 1979. Species in this genus are native to New Guinea and New Caledonia.

Kostermanthus is a genus of plants in the family Chrysobalanaceae described by British botanist Ghillean Prance in 1979. Species in this genus are large trees native to Malesia.

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Pranceacanthus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae. It only contains one known species, Pranceacanthus coccineusWassh.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sinon, Stephen (August 2000). "Records of the Herbarium (RG4) GHILLEAN T. PRANCE RECORDS (1963–1988)". Archives and Manuscript Collections. New York Botanical Garden . Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ghillean Prance (1937–)". Kew, History & Heritage. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  3. 1 2 Langmead, Clive (2001). A Passion for Plants: Life and Vision of Ghillean Prance, Director of Kew Gardens. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens. ISBN   1-900347-76-8.
  4. ↑ Prance, Anne E.; Sandved, Kjell Bloch; Prance, Ghillean T. (1993). Bark: the formation, characteristics, and uses of bark around the world. Portland, Or: Timber Press. ISBN   0-88192-262-5.
  5. ↑ Sandved, Kjell Bloch; Prance, Ghillean T. (1985). Leaves, the formation, characteristics, and uses of hundreds of leaves found in all parts of the world. [New York]: Crown. ISBN   0-517-55152-7.
  6. 1 2 3 "Professor Sir Ghillean Prance". Trustees. Amazon Charitable Trust. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "História do PPG-Ecologia do INPA". ppginpa.eco.br. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia. December 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "International Trustees". A Rocha. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Presidents". Christians in Science. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  10. ↑ "Nature in Art Trust". Nature in Art Trust. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  11. ↑ Marren, Peter (23 August 2010). "Wild Flower Society: Floral fixation". The Independent on Sunday. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  12. ↑ The Wild Flower Society website
  13. ↑ "List of Past Gold Medal Winners" (PDF). Royal Geographical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Decorations for two worthy recipients celebrated at the Embassy". uk.emb-japan.go.jp. Embassy of Japan in the UK. December 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  15. ↑ "Sir Ghillean Tolmie Prance (1937–), Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens". Collections. National Portrait Gallery, London . Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  16. ↑ "Pranceacanthus Wassh. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  17. ↑ International Plant Names Index.  Prance.
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