Charles Austin Gardner (6 January 1896 – 24 February 1970) was an English-born

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

n botanist.

Biography

Born in

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, in England, on 6 January 1896, Gardner emigrated to Western Australia with his family in 1909, where they took possession of land at

Yorkrakine Yorkrakine is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia; it is part of the Shire of Tammin, east of the state capital, Perth. At the , Yorkrakine had a population of 117. Since then, the area has been listed as North Tammin in t ...

. Gardner showed an interest in

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

botany Botany, also called plant science (or plant sciences), plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "bot ...

from youth, becoming engrossed in his state museum's copy of Bentham'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 ...

'' (London, 1863-78) and received encouragement from the government's botanist

Desmond Herbert Desmond Andrew Herbert (17 June 1898 – 8 September 1976) was an Australian botanist. The son of a fruit-grower, Herbert was born in Diamond Creek, Victoria in 1898; was educated at Malvern State School and the Melbourne Church of England Gram ...

and botanical artist

Emily Pelloe Emily Harriet Pelloe (3 May 1878 – 15 April 1941) was a botanical illustrator, and author of books, of the flowering plants of Western Australia. Her work in watercolour, extensive illustrations, and English language descriptions were included ...

. After a BSc in Biology, he was appointed a botanical collector for the Forests Department in 1920, and the following year was engaged as botanist on the

Kimberley Exploration Expedition Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a c ...

, resulting in his first publication, ''Botanical Notes, Kimberley Division of Western Australia'', which gave descriptions for twenty new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

. In 1924 he transferred to the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

, and following a departmental re-organisation in 1928 he was appointed Government Botanist and Curator of the State Herbarium. During this time he also wrote on botanical topics in governmental and public Western Australian media, including the remote students educational publication ''

Our Rural Magazine ''Our Rural Magazine'' was a monthly magazine produced between 1926 and 1946 by the WA Correspondence School of the Education Department of Western Australia for school children who were located in isolated circumstances. In the inter-war peri ...

''. His Wildflowers of Western Australia'', published by

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times (Western Australia), The Sunday Times'' ...

in the 1940s went to over twenty editions.

Travels and publications

He travelled widely and published around 320 papers, the most important of which were ''Contributions to the Flora of Western Australia'' in ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'' (from 1923), ''

Enumeratio Plantarum Australiae Occidentalis Accumulatio is a figure of speech, part of the more general group of ''enumeratio'', in which the statements made previously are presented again in a compact, forceful manner. It often uses a climax for the summation of a speech. The word is Latin ...

'' (1930), a census of the state's plants, and ''Flora of Western Australia Volume 1, Part 1, Gramineae'' (1952). He described eight genera and around 200 new species. In 1937 he became the first

Australian Botanical Liaison Officer Australian Botanical Liaison Officer was a secondment position, held for up to twelve months by an Australian botanist (or expert in Australian botany) at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, England in the United Kingdom. The position wa ...

at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

. His published works and contributions include, * (with H.W. Bennetts), (1956) ''The Toxic Plants of Western Australia'', Perth, West Australian Newspapers. * Lane-Poole, C. E, ''A primer of forestry, with illustrations of the principal forest trees of Western Australia''. 1922.

Legacy

Gardner was awarded the Medal 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. It publishes the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'', and has awarded the Medal of the Royal Society of Western ...

in 1949, and the

Clarke Medal The Clarke Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales, the oldest learned society in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, for distinguished work in the Natural sciences. The medal is named in honour of the Reverend William Branw ...

of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

in 1961. He retired in 1962, and died from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

Subiaco, Western Australia Subiaco (known colloquially as Subi) is an inner- western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. Historically a working-c ...

, on 24 February 1970, aged 74. His personal botanical collection was bequeathed to the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

Community at

New Norcia New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, but was transferred to the State Herbarium in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

in June 1970.

References

* *

Biography

Travels and publications

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading