Ernest Edward Galpin (1858–1941), was a South African botanist and banker. He left some 16,000 sheets to the National Herbarium in Pretoria and was dubbed "the Prince of Collectors" by General Smuts. Galpin discovered half a dozen genera and many hundreds of new species. Numerous species are named after him such as Acacia galpinii, Bauhinia galpinii, Cyrtanthus galpinii, Kleinia galpinii, Kniphofia galpinii, Streptocarpus galpinii and Watsonia galpinii. He is commemorated in the genus Galpinia N.E.Br. as is his farm in the genus Mosdenia Stent.
Encephalartos woodii, Wood's cycad, is a rare cycad in the genus Encephalartos, and is endemic to the oNgoye Forest of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is one of the rarest plants in the world, being extinct in the wild with all specimens being clones of the type. The specific and common name both honour John Medley Wood, curator of the Durban Botanic Garden and director of the Natal Government Herbarium of South Africa, who discovered the plant in 1895.
John Medley Wood was a South African botanist who contributed greatly to the knowledge of Natal ferns, is generally credited with the establishment of sugarcane mosaic virus immune Uba sugar cane in Natal and for his extensive collection of Natal plants.
Cythna Lindenberg Letty, was a South African botanical artist and is regarded as a doyenne of South African botanical art by virtue of the quality and quantity of her meticulously executed paintings and pencil sketches, produced over a period of 40 years with the National Herbarium in Pretoria.
Inez Clare Verdoorn was a South African botanist and taxonomist, noted for her major revisions of plant families and genera. She is also a niece of Eugene Nielen Marais, lawyer, naturalist, poet and writer.
Flowering Plants of Africa is a series of illustrated botanical magazines akin to Curtis's Botanical Magazine, initiated as Flowering Plants of South Africa by I. B. Pole-Evans in 1920. It is now published by the South African National Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria. The magazine depicts and describes flowering plants from Africa and its neighbouring islands. The issues are printed in soft cover measuring 250 x 190 mm.
Amy Frances May Gordon Jacot Guillarmod, was a South African botanist and limnologist, noted for her work on the flora of Basutoland and some 200 publications, including numerous papers on wetlands, bogs and sponges.
Olive Mary Hilliard is a noted South African botanist and taxonomist. Hilliard authored 372 land plant species names, the fifth-highest number of such names authored by any female scientist.
The Durban Botanic Gardens is situated in the city of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is Durban's oldest public institution and Africa's oldest surviving botanical gardens. The gardens cover an area of 15 hectares in a subtropical climate.
Frieda Lauth was a South African botanical artist who emigrated to Natal with her parents in 1882. She worked as an assistant at the Natal Herbarium and is noted for her illustrations of Medley Wood's Natal Plants. She resigned in 1903 upon marrying Thomas Floyd, and later lectured in botany at the Durban Technical College.
Maureen Elizabeth Church is a Welsh-born botanist and a self-trained botanical illustrator. Her preferred technique was that of line drawings and her work is in the permanent collections of the Forest Herbarium in Oxford, the East African Herbarium in Nairobi, the Herbarium at Kew, and the University of Edinburgh.
Marianne or Edda Fannin was an Irish botanical artist, known for her work painting the flora of South Africa. She was regarded as one of the principle South African botanical artists of her time.
Mary Elizabeth Connell was an English-born South African botanical illustrator.
Millicent Franks was a South African botanical illustrator.
Mary Maud Page was an English-born South African botanical illustrator. She was the daughter of Nathaniel Page, a former mayor of Croydon.
Rosemary Charlotte Holcroft was a South African botanical illustrator.
Auriol Ursula Luyt Batten was a South African botanical illustrator.
Averil Maud Bottomley was a South African mycologist. She was a member of the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science and a founding member of the South African Biological Society.
Esmé Frances Hennessy, née Franklin is a South African botanist, botanical artist, and author. She specializes in taxonomic botany. She wrote and illustrated South African Erythrinas, Durban 1972, Orchids of Africa 1961 with Joyce Stewart, The Slipper Orchids 1989 with Tessa Hedge, and many descriptions and plates in Flowering plants of Africa as well as work in many private collections.
Helena M. L. Forbes was a Scottish botanist, plant collector and curator who worked primarily on South African flora.
