Libby Houston

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Libby Houston
Born
Elizabeth Maynard Houston

1941 (age 82–83)
North London, England
NationalityEnglish
Alma mater Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
University of Bristol
Occupation(s)Poet, botanist
SpouseMal Dean
ChildrenTwo children, Sam and Alice, and six grandchildren.
Awards H. H. Bloomer Award

Libby Houston (born 1941) [1] is an English poet and botanist. The native of North London has published several collections of poetry. Houston, a research associate at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, has discovered several new species of whitebeam ( Sorbus ), one of which has been given her name. In addition to membership in several organisations related to botany, Houston is a participant in the Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project. She was the recipient of the H. H. Bloomer medal in 2012. The award from the Linnean Society of London acknowledged her contribution to natural history, in particular, the body of knowledge of whitebeams in Britain, and the flora of Avon Gorge in Bristol, England. In 2018, she was recipient of the Marsh Botany Award, in recognition of lifetime achievement in the field. [2]

Contents

Early life

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford LMH Quad.jpg
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford

Libby Houston was born Elizabeth Maynard Houston in North London, England, and was raised in the West Country. [3] [4] She was educated at Lady Margaret Hall of the University of Oxford. In 1966, she married illustrator and musician Malcolm Dean in Somerset. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Houston published her first collection of poetry, A Stained Glass Raree Show, in 1967, followed by Plain Clothes in 1971, At the Mercy in 1980 (all with Allison & Busby), Necessity in 1988 (Slow Dancer), A Little Treachery in 1990 (Circle Press), and All Change in 1993 (Oxford University Press). [3] [4] She has appeared on BBC radio broadcasts for children since the early 1970s. [4]

She was widowed in 1974, [5] and married Roderick Jewell in 1979, [3] [7] [8] moving that year to Bristol. [9] Houston received a certificate in Science Biology from the University of Bristol. [3]

Research at the University of Bristol

In 2012, Houston was a research associate in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, assisting Lewis Frost with his study of the flora of Avon Gorge in Bristol. Her skill at rock-climbing was essential to reach the plants, [9] including spiked speedwell [10] ( Veronica spicata ) and Bristol rockcress [11] (Arabis scabra). More recently she worked with Simon Hiscock, then Professor of Botany at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, as well as with Tim Rich, then head of the vascular plant section [12] at the National Museum Wales on Avon Gorge whitebeams (Sorbus). [9]

Houston's Whitebeam (Sorbus x houstoniae), a hybrid of Common Whitebeam (Sorbus aria) (above) and Bristol Whitebeam (Sorbus bristoliensis) Sorbus aria-3420.jpg
Houston's Whitebeam ( Sorbus x houstoniae ), a hybrid of Common Whitebeam (Sorbus aria) (above) and Bristol Whitebeam (Sorbus bristoliensis)

She discovered a new hybrid of the tree, to which her name has been given, on a cliff of the Avon Gorge in 2005. [9] [13] [14] Houston found the rare Houston's Whitebeam ( Sorbus x houstoniae ), a hybrid between the Common Whitebeam ( Sorbus aria ) and the Bristol Whitebeam ( Sorbus bristoliensis ). [9] [13] [14] The single existing example which has been found is only accessible with ropes. The Houston's Whitebeam was one of fourteen new whitebeam trees officially named in the February 2009 issue of Watsonia, the journal of the Botanical Society of the British Isles. [13] [14] Five of those new trees were discovered in Bristol. [13] [14] [15] Houston's research also included the Wye Valley, where she discovered three of the new whitebeams. [9]

Houston is a member of the Bristol Naturalists' Society, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, and the Somerset Rare Plants Group. [16] In April 2012, she participated in an exhibition at Bradbury Hall, Henleaze, Bristol, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Bristol Naturalists' Society. [17] She was also a participant in the Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project, which was established in 1999 to protect the Bristol side of the Avon Gorge and Downs and to increase awareness of the site. [18] [19]

Awards

In 2012, Houston was awarded the H. H. Bloomer Award from the Linnean Society of London for her contribution to natural history, in particular of the Avon Gorge flora and British whitebeams. [9] [20] [21] The silver medal is awarded by the society to an "amateur naturalist who has made an important contribution to biological knowledge." [9] [22]

In 2018 she was awarded the Marsh Botany Award in recognition of her contribution to the knowledge of the flora of the Avon Gorge, and particularly Sorbus species. [23]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Avon, Bristol</span> River in the south west of England

The River Avon is a river in the southwest of England. To distinguish it from a number of other rivers of the same name, it is often called the Bristol Avon. The name 'Avon' is loaned from an ancestor of the Welsh word afon, meaning 'river'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheddar Gorge</span> Valley in Somerset, England

Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Cheddar, Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in 1903. Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era have been found. The caves, produced by the activity of an underground river, contain stalactites and stalagmites. The gorge is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest called Cheddar Complex.

The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collections, and publishes academic journals and books on plant and animal biology. The society also awards a number of prestigious medals and prizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avon Gorge</span> Gorge on the River Avon in Bristol, England

The Avon Gorge is a 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometre) long gorge on the River Avon in Bristol, England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Bristol city centre, and about 3 miles (5 km) from the mouth of the river at Avonmouth. The gorge forms the boundary between the unitary authorities of North Somerset and Bristol, with the boundary running along the south bank. As Bristol was an important port, the gorge formed a defensive gateway to the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Woods National Nature Reserve</span> National nature reserve near Bristol, England

Leigh Woods is a 2-square-kilometre (0.77 sq mi) area of woodland on the south-west side of the Avon Gorge, close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, within North Somerset opposite the English city of Bristol and north of the Ashton Court estate, of which it formed a part. Stokeleigh Camp, a hillfort thought to have been occupied from the third century BC to the first century AD and possibly also in the Middle Ages, lies within the reserve on the edge of the Nightingale Valley. On the bank of the Avon, within the reserve, are quarries for limestone and celestine which were worked in the 18th and 19th centuries are now derelict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horseshoe Bend, Shirehampton</span> Site of special scientific interest in Bristol, England

Horseshoe Bend, Shirehampton is an 11 acre biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Bristol, England, on the north bank of a lower, tidal stretch of the River Avon, 1.9 miles downstream from the Avon Gorge, and just east of Shirehampton. It was notified as an SSSI in 1999.

<i>Hedlundia anglica</i> Species of whitebeam, the English whitebeam

Hedlundia anglica, the English whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam tree in the family Rosaceae. It is endemic to Ireland and the United Kingdom, with an entire British population estimated at 600 individuals.

<i>Karpatiosorbus bristoliensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Karpatiosorbus bristoliensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is known commonly as the Bristol whitebeam. It is endemic to Great Britain, growing wild only in the Avon Gorge and in the Leigh Woods area of Bristol. There are around 300 individuals as of 2016, and the population is thought to be increasing.

Aria wilmottiana, commonly known as Willmott's whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam in the family Rosaceae. It is endemic to England, and is found in the Avon Gorge, in Somerset and Gloucestershire. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Karpatiosorbus admonitor</i> Species of whitebeam found in Devon, known as the Watersmeet whitebeam

Karpatiosorbus admonitor, previously classified as Sorbus admonitor and also called the Watersmeet whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam tree found in Devon, United Kingdom. It is known only from the Watersmeet Valley at Lynton, with two stray plants growing on the coast above Sillery Sands, Countisbury. It has also been nicknamed the "no parking whitebeam" in some newspapers.

The H. H. Bloomer Award is an award of the Linnean Society, established in 1963 from a legacy by the amateur naturalist Harry Howard Bloomer, which is awarded to "an amateur naturalist who has made an important contribution to biological knowledge." The recipients, alternatively a botanist and a zoologist, are presented with a silver medal and a donation from the Fund.

Alfred Edmund Hudd was a native of Clifton, Bristol, England. An accountant as a young man, his means were such that he was able to pursue his interests as a naturalist and antiquarian. He was a member of a number of societies, often assuming leadership positions. Hudd is perhaps best known for his roles as author of Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of the Bristol District, editor of the Proceedings of the Clifton Antiquarian Club, supervisor of the excavations undertaken by the Caerwent Exploration Fund, and author of "Richard Ameryk and the name America."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Wye Gorge</span>

Upper Wye Gorge is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological and geological characteristics, around Symonds Yat in the Wye Valley on the Wales–England border. The site is listed in the "Forest of Dean Local Plan Review" as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).

Karpatiosorbus houstoniae, or Houston's whitebeam, is a hybrid of two deciduous trees: the common whitebeam and the Bristol whitebeam. Only a single example of the hybrid is known to exist, at the Avon Gorge in Bristol, England. The only specimen grows on a cliff below Stokeleigh Camp at Leigh Woods in North Somerset and cannot be accessed without ropes.

Michael Charles Faraday Proctor PhD was an English botanist and plant ecologist, lecturer, scientific author based at the University of Exeter. He retired from his post as Reader in Plant Ecology at Exeter University in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Vachell</span> Welsh botanist

Eleanor Vachell (1879–1948) was a Welsh botanist who is remembered especially for her work identifying and studying the flora of Glamorgan and her connection with the National Museum of Wales where she was the first woman to be a member of its Council and Court of Governors. The museum now holds her botanical diary, notes, books, records and specimens.

<i>Aria porrigentiformis</i> Species of flowering plant

Aria porrigentiformis, commonly known as the grey-leafed whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam endemic to England and Wales.

Aria leighensis, commonly known as Leigh Woods whitebeam, is a rare species of whitebeam, a flowering plant in the|rose family Rosaceae.

Margaret Elizabeth Bradshaw, is an English botanist and conservationist. She has been a long term advocate and recorder of the flora of Upper Teesdale in County Durham. Her first book was published when she was 97.

References

  1. ↑ "Notes on contributors". The Transatlantic Review (28): 193. Spring 1968. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  2. ↑ "Marsh Botany Award".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 International Who's Who in Poetry 2005 (13, revised ed.). Taylor & Francis. 21 October 2004. p. 792. ISBN   9781857432695 . Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Willhardt, Mark (27 November 2002). Who's Who in Twentieth Century World Poetry (2, revised ed.). Psychology Press. p. 152. ISBN   9780415163569 . Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  5. 1 2 Dean, Malcolm Fred. "England & Wales, Death Index: 1916–2006". ancestry.com. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes (as reprinted on Ancestry.com).{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. ↑ Dean, Malcolm F. "England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916–2005". ancestry.com. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes (as reprinted on Ancestry.com).{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  7. ↑ Dean, Elizabeth M. "England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916–2005". ancestry.com. General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes (as reprinted on Ancestry.com).{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. ↑ "Dean, Mal". SFE The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Bristol Naturalist News". docs.google.com. Bristol Naturalists' Society. July–August 2012. p. 6. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Spiked Speedwell". luontoportti.com. NatureGate. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Arabis scabra All. – Bristol Rock-Cress". nhm.ac.uk. Natural History Museum. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Tim Rich: Head of Vascular Plant Section". museumwales.ac.uk. National Museum Wales. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Bristol trees named after finders". BBC. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "14 new trees discovered in the UK and Ireland". museumwales.ac.uk. National Museum Wales. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Leigh Wood Whitebeams". bristolbotany.co.uk. Bristol Botany. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  16. ↑ Taylor, Ken. "Site Report for October 2010 – visit to field around Victory Park, Brislington, Bristol" (PDF). brislingtonarchaeology.org.uk. Brislington Community Archaeology Project. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. ↑ "Hundreds of photos reveal nature all around us". thisisbristol.co.uk. Northcliffe Media Limited. 16 April 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  18. ↑ "Gorge-ous nature on the Downs". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  19. ↑ "History - Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project". Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  20. ↑ "School of Biological Sciences". bristol.ac.uk. University of Bristol. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  21. ↑ "Bristol botanist awarded prestigious medal for her contribution to natural history". bris.ac.uk. University of Bristol. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  22. ↑ "The H. H. Bloomer Award". linnean.org. The Linnean Society of London. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  23. ↑ "Marsh Charitable Trust – Marsh Botany Award". www.marshcharitabletrust.org. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
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