Barbara Hulme (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Poulter; 1930–2020) was a

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 ...

, credited with being the first to produce experimental hybrids in the genus ''

Atriplex ''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''. The genus is quite variable and ...

'' (also known as saltbush or orache), a genus of wild flower common on seaside strandlines. The Canadian botanist Pierre Michel Taschereau would later name the ''Atriplex X hulmeana'' hybrid after her.

Early life and education

Born in York, Barbara attended Tang Hall Junior School in the Heworth area of the city, before gaining a scholarship to attend Queen Anne Grammar School.

University and research

Barbara studied botany at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

from 1948 where she achieved a

first class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

. She stayed on to study for a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, which she gained in 1957. Her thesis was entitled "Studies on some British species of Atriplex L", in which she clarified the classification of four british ''Atriplex'' species, performed cultivation studies including hybridization, and revealed that many of the traits used for classification are genetically determined but can be influenced by environmental factors. She also assisted botanist

Peter Hadland Davis Peter Hadland Davis FLS, FRSE (18 June 1918 – 5 March 1992) was a British botanist. Life Davis was born on 18 June 1918 in Weston-super-Mare. Initially he was educated at the Nash House, Burnham-on-Sea and then continued his education at Br ...

in his study of the flora of Turkey.

Marriage and later life

It was also during her time at Edinburgh that she met her future husband Ken Hulme, who was then working as a foreman at the Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh. The couple married in 1955 and moved first to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, where Barbara finished writing up her thesis, and then to the Wirral in 1957, where Ken had become the first Director at Ness Gardens,

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

. After the birth of her three children, Barbara's life revolved around caring for them and other family members but her interest in plants stayed with her for the rest of her life, and many of her holidays with Ken, including a trip to China to attend a symposium about botanic gardens, revolved around plants and gardens.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hulme, Barbara Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 1930 births 2020 deaths English botanists Scientists from York Hybrid plants British women botanists