Professor Brian John Grieve (15 August 1907 – 5 September 1997) was an Australian

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

best known for his multi-volume book series '' How to know Western Australian wildflowers''. Born in Allans Flat, Victoria, he was educated at Williamstown High School, then matriculated to the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. He graduated with First Class Honours in

Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

in 1929, and the following year was awarded an M.Sc. He then won an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship that enabled him to undertake Doctoral studies at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Grieve returned to Victoria in 1931, taking up a lecturing position at the University of Melbourne. He remained there until 1947, except for a period in 1938 and 1939 when he studied mycology at the University of Cambridge, and a brief time serving in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve early in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During World War II his university research included an investigation into fungal contamination of field glasses in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. In 1947, Grieve moved to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

to become head of the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

's Botany Department. In 1957 he became the Department's Foundation Professor. His research interests were broad, taking in general botany, anatomy, physiology,

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

, biosystematics,

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

, mycology and

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

. Later, he began to specialise in the physiology of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's native plants, especially their water relationships. Grieve was a long-time member of the Royal Society of Western Australia, joining in 1948, and twice serving as President. He was made an Honorary Life Member in 1975, and was awarded the Society's Medal in 1979. He also served on the Kings Park Board from 1959 to 1978. In the public's eye, he is best known for his contributions to the ''How to Know Western Australian Wildflowers'' project, a series of books on systematic identification of the flora of Western Australia begun by William Blackall, and continued by Grieve after Blackall's death in 1941. Despite working on the project for over fifty years, he never published a formal taxonomic paper, and so does not have a formal botanical author abbreviation.

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Further reading