James Keys (19 June 1841 – 26 January 1916) was a school teacher and pioneering 19th century

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

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 ...

who was globally recognised for the diverse collections of plant specimens which he assembled from locations of floristic significance throughout his home state including Mt Perry,

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

, Bustard Heads,

Burrum River The Burrum River is a river in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. Course and features The river rises within Lake Lenthall, impounded by Lenthalls Dam at the confluence of several smaller watercourses including Harwood Cr ...

, Eurimbula, Pine Mountain,

Lake Cootharaba Lake Cootharaba is a lake on the Noosa River within the locality of Noosa North Shore in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. It is the gateway to the Everglades, a popular tourist attraction for Noosa, being 20 km away from Noosa ...

Blackall Range The Blackall Range is a mountain range in South East Queensland, Australia. The first European explorer in the area was Ludwig Leichhardt. It was named after Samuel Blackall, the second Governor of Queensland. The Blackall Range dominates the ...

and Norman Creek. He was a close friend to

Colonial Botanist F.M. Bailey who was Keys' mentor and was responsible for many of Keys collections of lichens and mosses being sent to specialists in Europe for study. With Bailey's encouragement Keys was to compile a comprehensive collection of plants from the Upper

Burnett River The Burnett River is a river in the Wide Bay–Burnett and Central Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Burnett River rises in the Burnett Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, close to Mount Gaeta and east ...

and Mount Perry (in the

Wide Bay–Burnett Wide Bay–Burnett is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, located between north of the state capital, Brisbane. The area's population growth has exceeded the state average over the past 20 years, and it is forecast to grow to more ...

region) which culminated in the first local checklist of plants in

from outside of the

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

area. Most of his flora collections which were not sent abroad now reside in the

Queensland Herbarium The Queensland Herbarium (Index Herbariorum code: BRI) is situated at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of Queensland's Department of Environment and Science. It is responsible for disc ...

where approximately 600 of Keys' collections are presently preserved. Keys was also recognised for his abiding interest in uses of plants and his documentation of the aboriginal plant names in the Mt Perry district were listed in Bailey's seminal 7-volume botanical book 'The Queensland Flora' (1899–1902, 1905). Keys first emigrated to Australia from Ireland in 1873 and worked initially as a school teacher in a number of south-eastern Queensland state schools eventually rising to the position of head master at Bundaberg Central Boys School which he held between July 1887 and 1898. Keys was appointed to the position of head teacher at Norman Park State School in

upon its opening in July 1900, a post which he held until his retirement from the public service around 1904. Keys was the father of highly decorated Australian nurse Constance Keys and the grandfather of Australian

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and conservationist Margaret Thorsborne The plant species '' Boronia keysii'' Domin, ''Hoya keysii'' F.M.Bailey (now '' H. australis'' R.Br.) and ''Siphonodon australis'' var. ''keysii'' F.M.Bailey (now '' S. australis'' var. ''australis'' ) were named in honour of Keys.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keys, James Botanists active in Australia 1841 births 1916 deaths Colony of Queensland people