Leslie Charles Leach

Last updated
Leslie Charles Leach00.jpg

Leslie Charles Leach "Larry" (18 November 1909 Southend - 18 July 1996 Pietersburg) was a Rhodesian taxonomic botanist.

Leach arrived in Rhodesia in 1938 and carried on business in Salisbury as an electrical engineer. He developed an interest in succulent plants, particularly Stapeliae, Euphorbieae and the genus Aloe . He gave up the business world in 1956 and devoted himself to a self-financed taxonomic study of the three groups with a special interest in the " Flora Zambesiaca " region. He collected extensively in Mozambique and East Africa, also covering Angola, South West Africa and South Africa.

Rhodesia former country in Africa

Rhodesia was a country in southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, which had been self-governing since achieving responsible government in 1923. A landlocked nation, Rhodesia was bordered by South Africa to the south, Bechuanaland to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east.

Harare City and Province in Zimbabwe

Harare is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 960.6 km2 (371 mi2) and an estimated population of 1,606,000 in 2009, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area in 2006. Situated in north-eastern Zimbabwe in the country's Mashonaland region, Harare is a metropolitan province, which also incorporates the municipalities of Chitungwiza and Epworth. The city sits on a plateau at an elevation of 1,483 metres above sea level and its climate falls into the subtropical highland category.

Stapeliae subtribe of plants

The genera of plants within the tribe Stapeliae are all to varying degrees stem succulents. Many of the species resemble cacti, though are not closely related, as an example of convergent evolution. The stems are often angular, mostly four-angled in cross-section, but in some species there are six or more, with some species of Hoodia having more than thirty angles. In size they vary from less than 2.5 cm/1" in length to over 2 m/6" tall. The leaves are in most species reduced to rudiments, sometimes hardened and thorn-like, arranged on bumps or tubercles on the angles. Some species, however, still have recognisable leaves, most notably the Indian species Frerea indica, and some members of Tridentea. Stapeliads are most abundant in warm, dry climates. In Africa, there are two separate regions where Stapeliads have most diversified: northeast Africa, and Southern Africa. Several species are endemic to the small island of Socotra off the Horn of Africa. The Arabian Peninsula, and most specifically the country of Yemen, contain another concentration of species. Several more are found in the drier parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, and Myanmar. A single species, Caralluma europea is found in Europe, in the very southern part of the Iberian peninsula. Stapeliads are often regarded as a climax group within the family because of their often structurally complex flowers. Certain aspects of these reproductive parts mirror the pollination systems in the Orchid family and represent a case of parallel evolution though both groups are quite unrelated and have developed similar, though not identical means to achieve the ultimate goal of pollination and therefore reproduction. Most stapeliads use flies as pollinators, that are attracted to odours resembling dung or rotting meat, emanating from the flowers. Many of the flowers also bear some physical resemblance to rotting animal carcasses, leading to their popular name of Carrion Flowers. However, not all stapeliads smell bad, or attract flies. Some species use beetles, bees, wasps, butterflies or moths as pollinators. Stapeliad flowers range in size from mere millimetres in species of Echidnopsis and Pseudolithos to those of Stapelia gigantea that can reach 40 cm/16" in diameter, and are some the largest of flowers to be found on any species of succulent.

Between 1972-81 Leach worked as Honorary Botanist of the staff of Rhodesia's National Herbarium and described himself as 'probably Rhodesia's only unpaid civil servant'. He coerced the Aloe, Cactus and Succulent Society of Rhodesia into producing a taxonomic series supplementary to Excelsa. Consequently, four volumes, including monographs of the Stapeliae, Orbea , Stapelia , Huernia and Tridentea , were authored by Leach and published between 1978-88.

Orbea is a bicycle manufacturer based in Mallabia, Spain. It is part of the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation and Spain's largest bicycle manufacturer. Orbea manufactures and assembles bikes at their own factory in Mallabia, with other models being made in Portugal and China.

<i>Huernia</i> genus of plants

The genus Huernia consists of stem succulents from Eastern and Southern Africa, first described as a genus in 1810. The flowers are five-lobed, usually somewhat more funnel- or bell-shaped than in the closely related genus Stapelia, and often striped vividly in contrasting colours or tones, some glossy, others matte and wrinkled depending on the species concerned. To pollinate, the flowers attract flies by emitting a scent similar to that of carrion. The genus is considered close to the genera Stapelia and Hoodia. The name is in honour of Justin Heurnius (1587–1652) a Dutch missionary who is reputed to have been the first collector of South African Cape plants. His name was actually misspelled by the collector.

<i>Tridentea</i> genus of plants

Tridentea is a genus of succulent plant in family Asclepiadaceae, endemic to southern Africa.

In 1981 he settled in South Africa, working at the National Botanic Garden at Worcester from 1982–89, and finishing his work on the succulent Stapeliae of Southern Africa, publishing the results in Excelsa.

Worcester, Western Cape Place in Western Cape, South Africa

Worcester is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is located 120 kilometres (75 mi) north-east of Cape Town on the N1 highway north to Johannesburg.

From 1990 he worked as Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Botany at the University of the North near Pietersburg, where, before his death, he worked on the succulent Euphorbieae for Flora Zambeziaca. [1]

Euphorbieae tribe of plants

Euphorbieae is a tribe of flowering plants of the family Euphorbiaceae. It comprises 3 subtribes and 6 genera.

He was awarded the Harry Bolus Medal by the Botanical Society of Southern Africa in 1968, the Rhodesia Scientific Association's Gold Medal in 1977 and had fellowship of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America conferred in 1983. [2]

Harry Bolus South African artist and botanist

Harry Bolus was a South African botanist, botanical artist, businessman and philanthropist. He advanced botany in South Africa by establishing bursaries, founding the Bolus Herbarium and bequeathing his library and a large part of his fortune to the South African College. Active in scientific circles, he was a Fellow of the Linnean Society, member and president of the South African Philosophical Society, the SA Medal and Grant by the SA Association for the Advancement of Science and an honorary D.Sc. from the University of the Cape of Good Hope. Volume 121 of Curtis's Botanical Magazine was dedicated to him. He is commemorated in five genera: Bolusia Benth., Bolusafra Kuntze, Neobolusia Schltr., Bolusanthus Harms and Bolusiella Schltr., as well as numerous specific names.

The Cactus and Succulent Society of America (CSSA) was founded in 1929, in Pasadena, California and has grown to encompass over 80 affiliated clubs and thousands of members worldwide. The primary purpose of the society is to enjoy succulent (water-storing) plants through horticulture, travel and scientific discovery, with a particular concern for habitat preservation and conservation issues in deserts worldwide.

He is commemorated in numerous specific names such as Aloe leachii Reynolds, Huernia leachii Lavranos, Dombeya leachii Wild, the Asclepiad genus Larryleachia and the Choreocolacaceae genus Leachiella Plowes. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation L.C.Leach when citing a botanical name. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Aloe</i> genus of plants

Aloe, also written Aloë, is a genus containing over 500 species of flowering succulent plants. The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe", so called because it is cultivated as the standard source of so-called "aloe vera" for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. Other species, such as Aloe ferox, also are cultivated or harvested from the wild for similar applications.

Susan Carter Holmes is a botanist and taxonomist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She discovered and catalogued more than 200 plants of the family Euphorbiaceae, particularly of the succulent East African members of the genera Euphorbia and Monadenium, as well as about 20 Aloe species. All plants and articles are published under her maiden-name Susan Carter.

Otto Wilhelm Sonder German botanist

Otto Wilhelm Sonder was a German botanist and pharmacist who was a native of Holstein. From 1841 to 1878 he was the proprietor of a pharmacy in Hamburg. In 1846 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Königsberg.

N. E. Brown British botanist

Nicholas Edward Brown was an English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents. He was also an authority on several families of plants, including Asclepiadaceae, Aizoaceae, Labiatae and Cape plants.

Rudolf Marloth South African scientist

Hermann Wilhelm Rudolf Marloth was a German-born South African botanist, pharmacist and analytical chemist, best known for his Flora of South Africa which appeared in six superbly illustrated volumes between 1913 and 1932. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Marloth when citing a botanical name.

Robert Allen Dyer South African botanist

Robert Allen Dyer was a South African botanist and taxonomist, working particularly on Amaryllidaceae and succulent plants, contributing to and editing of Bothalia and Flowering Plants of Africa and holding the office of Director of the Botanical Research Institute in Pretoria from 1944 to 1963.

G. W. Reynolds South African botanist

Gilbert Westacott Reynolds, was a South African optometrist and authority on the genus Aloe.

Ellaphie Ward-Hilhorst South African painter

Johanna Ellaphie Ward-Hilhorst was a South African botanical artist.

Inez Clare Verdoorn South African botanist

Inez Clare Verdoorn, was a South African botanist and taxonomist, noted for her major revisions of plant families and genera.

Illtyd Buller Pole-Evans South African botanist

Illtyd Buller Pole-Evans CMG was a Welsh-born South African botanist. Sometimes his first name is spelled Iltyd.

Arthur William Hill British botanist

Sir Arthur William Hill was Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and a noted botanist and taxonomist.

Huntington Desert Garden

The Huntington Desert Garden is part of The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The Desert Garden is one of the world's largest and oldest collections of cacti, succulents and other desert plants, collected from throughout the world. It contains plants from extreme environments, many of which were acquired by Henry E. Huntington and William Hertrich in trips taken to several countries in North, Central and South America. One of the Huntington's most botanically important gardens, the Desert Garden brought together a group of plants largely unknown and unappreciated in the beginning of the 1900s. Containing a broad category of xerophytes, the Desert Garden grew to preeminence and remains today among the world's finest, with more than 5,000 species in the 10 acre garden.

Louisa Bolus South African botanist (1877-1970)

Harriet Margaret Louisa BolusnéeKensit was a South African botanist and taxonomist, and the longtime curator of the Bolus Herbarium, from 1903. Bolus also has the legacy of authoring more land plant species than any other female scientist, in total naming 1,494 species.

Margaret Lawder Margaret Lawder (1900-1983) was an Irish and South African botanist known for her collection of plants for the National Botanic Gardens in South Africa

Margaret Lawder (1900-1983) was an Irish and South African botanist known for her conservation work. In 1922, at the age of 22, she emigrated to the Cape of Good Hope with her husband Commander Edward Francis Lawder R.N. and they became official plant collectors for the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town. Edward took pictures of the flowers and Margaret wrote the descriptions of them.

<i>Aloe globuligemma</i> species of plant

Aloe globuligemma is a species of flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae. It is an evergreen, succulent, perennial plant. The plant forms large, dense clumps. It is harvested from the wild for local medicinal use.

Aloeae

Aloeae is a tribe of succulent plants in the subfamily Asphodeloideae of the family Asphodelaceae, consisting of the aloes and their close relatives. The taxon may also be treated as the subfamily Alooideae by those botanists who retain the narrower circumscription of Asphodelaceae adopted prior to the APG III system. Typically, plants have rosettes of more or less succulent leaves, with or without a distinct stem. Their flowers are arranged in racemes and tend to be either small and pale, pollinated by insects, or larger and more brightly coloured, pollinated by birds. As of 2017, 11 genera are recognized, most created since 2010 by splitting off another five genera from Aloe and another two from Haworthia. Only two genera, Aloe and Aloidendron, are native outside southern Africa, extending northwards to the Arabian Peninsula. Seven genera are restricted to South Africa, some with small ranges. Members of the Aloeae are cultivated by succulent plant enthusiasts; Aloe species especially are used in temperate climates as ornamental garden plants. Some species are used in traditional medicine. Aloe vera and Aloe ferox are cultivated for their extracts, whose uses include moisturizers and emollients in cosmetics.

Harry Hall (botanist) botanist (1906-1986)

Harry Hall, was a British-born horticulturist, botanist and succulent plant authority. Hall attended Cheshire Agricultural College for one year (1925–26), Reading University in (1926–27) and two years at the John Innes Horticultural Institute in Wimbledon (1927–29). He then enrolled for a further three-year course (1930–1933) at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, followed by being an exchange student for one year (1931–1932) at the Hanbury Botanical Garden in La Mortola in Italy. Here his passion for succulent plants was ignited, and on his return to Kew headed the section dealing with the cactus and succulent collection.

Harold Basil Christian was a South African-born Rhodesian farmer, horticulturist, and botanist. Christian attended Eton College in the United Kingdom, where he was a distinguished athlete. He served in the Imperial Light Horse of the British Army during the Second Boer War, during which he fought in the Siege of Ladysmith. In the decade after the war, he worked in what is now South Africa for De Beers and later as an engineer for a mining company. In 1911, Christian moved to Rhodesia. There, he purchased a sizable farm, which he named Ewanrigg. He was best known for his study and cultivation of aloe on his extensive estate, which was donated to the state upon his death and became a national park.

John Jacob Lavranos South African botanist (born 1926)

John Jacob Lavranos was a Greek/South African insurance broker and botanist, with a special interest in succulents. The standard author abbreviation Lavranos is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

Peter René Oscar Bally Swiss botanist (1895–1980)

Peter René Oscar Bally was a Swiss botanical illustrator, botanist and taxonomist. The standard author abbreviation P.R.O.Bally is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

References

  1. ↑ Sabonet [ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ Botanical Exploration of Southern Africa - Gunn & Codd
  3. ↑ Brummitt, R. K.; C. E. Powell (1992). Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN   1-84246-085-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.