Alexander Segger George
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Alexander Segger George (born 4 April 1939) is an Australian botanist. He is an authority on the plant
genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
''
Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and woody fruiting "cones" and head ...
'' and ''
Dryandra ''Banksia'' ser. ''Dryandra'' is a series of 94 species of shrub to small tree in the plant genus ''Banksia''. It was considered a separate genus named ''Dryandra'' until early 2007, when it was merged into ''Banksia'' on the basis of extensiv ...
''. The "bizarre"
Restionaceae The Restionaceae, also called restiads and restios, are a family of flowering plants native to the Southern Hemisphere; they vary from a few centimeters to 3 meters in height. Following the APG IV (2016): the family now includes the former famil ...
genus '' Alexgeorgea'' was named in his honour in 1976.


Early life

Alex Segger George was born in Western Australia on 4 April 1939.


Career

George joined the
Western Australian Herbarium The Western Australian Herbarium is the state Herbarium, situated in Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It houses a collection of more than 845,000 dried specimens of plants, algae, bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts), lichens, fu ...
as a laboratory assistant at the age of 20 in 1959. He worked under Charles Gardner for a year before the latter's retirement, and partly credits him with rekindling an interest in banksias. In 1963 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia, and the following year added a botany
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
. Continuing at the Western Australian Herbarium as a botanist, in 1968 he was seconded as Australian Botanical Liaison Officer at the Royal Botanic Gardens in London. George also has an interest in history, especially historical biography of naturalists in Western Australia. He has published a number of articles in the field of history, including a history of the
Royal Society of Western Australia The Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA) promotes science in Western Australia. The RSWA was founded in 1914, and also gained the "Royal" name in the same year. It publishes the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'', and has ...
and a tribute to naturalist and historian
Rica Erickson Frederica Lucy "Rica" Erickson , née Sandilands, (10 August 1908 – 8 September 2009) was an Australian natural history, naturalist, botanical illustrator, botanical artist, historian, author and teacher. Without any formal scientific trainin ...
. In 1999 he published a book on
William Dampier William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavig ...
's naturalist collections in Western Australia entitled ''William Dampier in New Holland: Australia's First Natural Historian''. George initially specialised in orchids, but his focus gradually moved to the
Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...
genera ''Banksia'' and ''Dryandra'' and later '' Synaphea''. He contributed the text to Celia Rosser's three volume '' The Banksias'', published between 1981 and 2001, which contains Rosser's paintings of every ''Banksia'' species. In 1981 ''
Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...
'' published his landmark monograph " The genus ''Banksia'' L.f. (Proteaceae)", the first systematic treatment of the taxonomy of ''Banksia'' since
George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...
's ''
Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume Flora of Australia published b ...
'' appeared in the 1870s. Three years later he published the popular ''The Banksia Book'', and the following year he published ''An Introduction to the Proteaceae of Western Australia''. In 1999, his taxonomy of the ''Banksia'' and ''Dryandra'' genera was published as part of the ''
Flora of Australia The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 21,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, ...
'' series of monographs. From 1981 to 1993, George lived in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
and worked as Executive Editor for the ''Flora of Australia'' series. His extensive revision of the genus ''
Verticordia :For the clam genus, see ''Verticordia'' (bivalve). ''Verticordia'' is a genus of more than 100 species of plants commonly known as featherflowers, in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. They range in form from very small shrubs such as '' V. verticor ...
'', an arrangement which included new taxa, was published in ''Nuytsia'' in 1991. He is now living in
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
again, and works as a botanical and editorial consultant. He is also an Honorary Research Associate with the Western Australian Herbarium, and an Adjunct Associate Professor with the College of Science,
Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its ...
.


Honours

In 2004 George received the Nancy T. Burbidge Medal from the Australasian Systematic Botany Society, and an honorary Doctor of Science from Murdoch University in 2009. On 11 June 2012, he was named a Member of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
for "service to conservation and the environment as a botanist, historian and author, particularly in the area of Australian flora, and through roles with national and international professional organisations." A foundation member of the Australasian Systematic Botany Society, he was awarded life membership in 2024. The genera '' Alexgeorgea'' and '' Georgeantha'', and species '' Buellia georgei'' are named in his honour.


Selected publications

* ''Orchids of Western Australia'' (1969) * ''A New Eucalypt from Western Australia'' (1970) * ''A List of the Orchidaceae of Western Australia'' (1971) * ''Flowers and Plants of Western Australia'' (1973) * ''The Genus Banksia'' (1981) * ''The Banksias'' (1981–2002, with Celia Rosser) * ''The Banksia Book'' (1984) * ''An Introduction to the Proteaceae of Western Australia'' (1984) * "New taxa, combinations and typifications in Verticordia (Myrtaceae: Chamelaucieae)." ''
Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...
'' (1991) * ''Notes on Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)'' (1996) * ''Wildflowers of Southern Western Australia'' (1996, with Margaret G. Corrick and Bruce A. Fuhrer) * ''Banksia'' in ''Flora of Australia: Volume 17B: Proteaceae 3: Hakea to Dryandra'' (1999) * ''Dryandra'' in ''Flora of Australia: Volume 17B: Proteaceae 3: Hakea to Dryandra'' (1999) * ''William Dampier in New Holland: Australia's First Natural Historian'' (1999) * ''The Long Dry: Bush Colours of Summer and Autumn in South-Western Australia'' (2002) * ''Australian Botanist's Companion'' (2009) * ''A Primer of Botanical Latin with Vocabulary'' (with Emma Short) (2013) * ''Swanning around Perth: An Exploration of the Black Swan in our City'' (with Charmaine Cave) (2014,2016) * ''Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings: A Glossary'', 4th edition (2021) * ''Peter Good:Kew's collector with Mathew Flinders on HMS Investigator, 1801-1803'' (with David Moore) (2022) * ''The Australian Botanical Liaison Officer scheme at Kew, 1937-2009''


References


Further reading

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Alex 1939 births Living people Botanists active in Australia Botanical collectors active in Australia Botany in Western Australia Scientists from Western Australia Botanists with author abbreviations Australian Botanical Liaison Officers People from Fremantle Members of the Order of Australia Royal Society of Western Australia