Mary Mendum (1945-2004), born Caroline Mary Bates, was a British botanist, taxonomist and botanical illustrator. [1] [2] A number of plant species were described and named by her, as well as others named in memory of her. The Mary Mendum Medal is awarded in her honour for an exceptional outstanding botanical illustration. [3]
Mendum was a botanist, taxonomist and botanical illustrator; she worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. She undertook botanical fieldwork in the Philippines and Indonesia collecting specimens, publishing on them and naming them. In 1993 Mendum, under her name of Caroline Mary Bates, was awarded the Jill Smythies Award for botanical illustration. [2] [4]
Source: [5]
Edinburgh Journal of Botany articles:
Rhododendron is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants and in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan region, but smaller numbers occur elsewhere in Asia, and in North America, Europe and Australia.
Aeschynanthus is a genus of about 150 species of evergreen subtropical and tropical plants in the family Gesneriaceae. They are usually trailing epiphytes with brightly colored flowers that are pollinated by sunbirds. The genus name comes from a contraction of aischuno and anthos (flower). The common name for some species is lipstick plant, which comes from the appearance of the developing buds emerging from the calyces. A full list of the accepted species and their synonyms can be found in the Smithsonian Institution's World Checklist of Gesneriaceae.
Nepenthes sibuyanensis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sibuyan Island in the Philippines, after which it is named.
Nepenthes alata is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Philippines. Like all pitcher plants, it is carnivorous and uses its nectar to attract insects that drown in the pitcher and are digested by the plant. It is highly polymorphic, and its taxonomy continues to be subject to revisions.
Nepenthes argentii is a highland Nepenthes pitcher plant native to Mount Guiting-Guiting on Sibuyan Island in the Philippines. It is possibly the smallest species in the genus and does not appear to have a climbing stage.
Martin Roy Cheek is a botanist and taxonomist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Brian Laurence "Bill" Burtt FRSE FLS, was an English botanist and taxonomist who is noted for his contributions to the family Gesneriaceae. In a career that spanned 74 years, he worked first at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and then at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). He made numerous field trips to South Africa and Sarawak and described a total of 637 new plant species. Burtt is denoted by the author abbreviation B.L.Burtt when citing a botanical name.
Streptocarpus rexii is a South African plant in the family Gesneriaceae, occurring widely from the southern Cape along the coastal hills, mountains, wooded ravines and valleys, and moist forests of the east coast, through Natal as far north as the Eastern Transvaal, up to an elevation of about 900 m. This genus of epiphytes and lithophytes, of about 130 species, is mainly African and Mascarene, with four vagrant species in Asia. Streptocarpus, as do other Old World Gesneriaceae, is unusual in that it displays anisocotylous or unequal growth, i.e. one cotyledon continues to grow after germination.
Cyrtandra cleopatrae is a species of plant in the family Gesneriaceae endemic to the Philippines. It is a tropical shrub having recaulescent inflorescences composed of multiple purpled flowers that emerge on the plant stem from stubby shoots. It was first collected for science during a 1998 expedition sponsored by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, from a location in Palawan called Cleopatra's Needle (elev. 1550m), thus the specific epithet "cleopatrae". The taxon was first published in the Edinburgh Journal of Botany in 2001.
Callicarpa (beautyberry) is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the family Lamiaceae. They are native to east and southeast Asia, Australia, Madagascar, south-eastern North America and South America.
Rhododendron subsection Brachycalyx is a subsection of the genus Rhododendron, in section Tsutsusi, subgenus Azaleastrum, consisting of fifteen species of azaleas from Asia.
Henckelia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. Many of its species were formerly placed in Didymocarpus sect. Orthoboea and in the genus Chirita. Many species formerly placed in Henckelia have been moved to Codonoboea and Loxocarpus.
Codonoboea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. It includes 129 species which range from Myanmar and Thailand through northern Malesia to New Guinea.
Roland Edgar Cooper FRSE FRSGS was a British botanist and Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1936 to 1950. Within the Gardens the Roland Edgar Cooper Collection stems from his own work. A number of species found by him bear the name Cooperi. A large number of Rhododendrons collected by Cooper continue to grow in the Gardens.
Cytandra vittata is a shrub in the African violet family Gesneriaceae with bright pink, candy-striped flowers. It was discovered in 2019 in New Guinea. It grows in rainforest. Doves and pigeons disperse its white berries.
The Philippine Taxonomic Initiative (PTI) is a private Philippine research institute and non-profit organization founded in 2018, located in the Philippines.
Dipankar Borah is an Indian field botanist from Assam.
Cyrtandra yaeyamae is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Iriomote Island in Japan, and Batan Island in the Philippines. It is very similar in appearance to Cyrtandra cumingii.
Cyrtandra cumingii is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae, native to the Philippines. It is very similar in appearance to Cyrtandra yaeyamae.
Cyrtandra argentii is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Discovered in 1997, it is characterized by its pendulous inflorescences, white woolly indumentum, and ovoid fruits. This species thrives in rainforest environments with high humidity and constant moisture. Cyrtandra argentii is classified as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to habitat loss and deforestation.