David John Bedford (born 1952), is an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 taxonomist who worked as a scientific executive officer and botanist at the

National Herbarium of New South Wales The National Herbarium of New South Wales was established in 1853. The Herbarium has a collection of more than 1.4 million plant specimens, making it the second largest collection of pressed, dried plant specimens in Australia,Thiers, B. ...

. He is notable for his revisions of the genus ''

Xanthorrhoea ''Xanthorrhoea'' () is a genus of about 30 species of Succulent plant, succulent flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae. They are Endemism, endemic to Australia. Common names for the plants include grasstree, grass gum-tree (for resin-yie ...

'' as well as many new species such as Xanthorrhoea acanthostachya.BioStorBHL
/ref> From an early age he had an interest in Australian flora and fauna, which led to him studying both botany and zoology at the main St Lucia campus of the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. After obtaining his BSc Honours (1st Class) he relocated to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and gained his PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) at the School of Biological Sciences,

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. In the 1990s, David relocated with his family to

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, where he took on the role of Director for the

Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens (RTBG), which cover an area of approximately 14 hectares (34.6 acres), in Hobart located within the Queens Domain. History The gardens were established in 1818 and is the second oldest Botanical Gardens ...

, a position he held for six years.

References

1952 births 20th-century Australian botanists University of Queensland alumni University of Sydney alumni Living people {{Australia-botanist-stub