Clara Winsome Muirhead (6 January 1916 – 7 March 1985) was a Scottish

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 ...

and

plant collector A botanical specimen, also called a plant specimen, is a biological specimen of a plant (or part of a plant) used for scientific purposes. Preserved collections of algae, fungi, slime molds, and other organisms traditionally studied by botanists a ...

who spent most of her career at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and was an expert on

mosses Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ho ...

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

, and

succulents In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meanin ...

Life

Clara Winsome Muirhead (known as "Win") was born in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England to Scottish parents. Her father was in the Merchant Navy and her mother was a

market gardener A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to so ...

. She studied horticulture at

Studley College Studley Horticultural & Agricultural College for Women was a horticultural and agricultural college for women, near Studley in Warwickshire, England, which operated from 1898 until 1969. History The college was founded by Daisy Greville, Counte ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

between 1933 and 1935. From 1938 to 1943, Muirhead worked in the herbarium at Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, and from 1943 to 1945, she was part of the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the World War I, First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in ...

in the codebreaking department. Between 1953 and 1975, Muirhead worked at the herbarium at the Royal Botanics. She continued to collect and record plants until 1980, when she had a stroke. She bequeathed her personal herbarium collection to the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

, where it became the Clara Winsome Muirhead Memorial Herbarium. She died of a heart attack on 7 March 1985.

Work on ''Sempervivum''

Muirhead described several new species in the genus ''

Sempervivum ''Sempervivum'' () is a genus of about 40 species of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Crassulaceae, commonly known as houseleeks. Other common names include liveforever (the source of the taxonomical designation ''Sempervivum'', l ...

''. These include: ''S. artvinense'', ''S. brevipilum'', ''S. davisii'', ''S. furseorum'', ''S. gilliani'', ''S. ispartae'', and ''S. transcaucasicum''.

Recognition

A cultivar of ''

Cassiope ''Cassiope'' is a genus of 18 small shrubby species in the family Ericaceae. It is the sole genus in the subfamily Cassiopoideae. They are native to the Arctic and north temperate montane regions. The genus is named after Cassiopeia of Greek ...

'' was named for Muirhead by R.B. Cooke, who named it ''C.'' 'Muirhead' (''C. wardii'' x '' C. lycopodioides'').

Publications

Muirhead's published works include *Muirhead, C.W. (1962) The Flora of Easdale and the Garvellachs. ''Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh'', 39: 316–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594866209441714 *Muirhead, C.W. (1966) ''Sempervivum globiferum . transcaucasicum'' ''Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh'', 26: 284-285 *Muirhead, C.W. (1969) Turkish species of Sempervivum. ''Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh'', 29: 15-28

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muirhead, Clara Winsome 20th-century Scottish botanists 20th-century Scottish women scientists Scottish women botanists Scottish plant collectors 1916 births 1985 deaths Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Military personnel from Cumbria Women's Royal Naval Service personnel of World War II