Auriol Ursula Luyt Batten (née Taylor) (2 March 1918, in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

– 2 June 2015, in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

) was a South African botanical illustrator. Auriol Batten obtained a B.Sc. in botany at the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

in Pietermaritzburg, and studied art at the Durban Technical College. She settled in East London after her marriage and began painting wild flowers. She was co-illustrator with her cousin,

Hertha Bokelmann Hertha Ludovica Bokelmann (née Faekle) (22 August 1915 Barcelona - 10 February 2005) was a Spanish-born South African botanist and botanical illustrator. She was trained in horticulture and botany at the Technical High School in Ulm, Germany. ...

, of 'Wild Flowers of the Eastern Cape Province' (1966) and 'Wild Flowers of the Tsitsikama' (1967). She painted all the illustrations for her own book 'Flowers of Southern Africa' (1986), and donated the originals to the nation, to be kept at the National Botanical Institute in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. Auriol Batten received a gold medal from the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

for her illustrations in 'Flowers of Southern Africa' and an honorary doctorate from

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

. Named in her honour were the plants ''

Lachenalia aurioliae ''Lachenalia'' is a genus of bulbous perennial plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, which are usually found in Namibia and South Africa. Most of them have a dormancy period, but new roots will always grow every year. ''Lache ...

'', '' Albuca batteniana'', '' Polycarena batteniana'' and '' Diascia batteniana''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batten, Auriol South African botanical illustrators 1918 births 2015 deaths South African women artists