Lilla Irvine Leach (March 13, 1886 – September 10, 1980) 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 ...

who spent most of her career studying plants in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

and

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

. She particularly focused on

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, where she spent time researching with her husband and discovering new plant species. She opened her own botanical gardens in 1931.

Early life

Lilla Leach was born in Oregon on her family's farm in Barlow,

Clackamas County Clackamas County ( ) is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the na ...

on March 13, 1886. Lilla's family settled down in Oregon after immigrating through the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

. Growing up on a farm helped Leach discover her love for flowers and other plant life by wandering around the vast natural settings.

Education

Lilla attended the Aurora School then Forest Grove Academy, where she met her husband John Leach. The two later furthered their education by attending the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. Lilla studied botany under the botanist Albert Sweetser. Leach spent the next five years after graduating from University of Oregon teaching high school-level botany in Eugene Oregon. During this time her husband John had finally won her over, leading the two to be quickly married on her parents' farm in an outdoor ceremony in 1913.

Research

After marrying her husband John, Lilla and John went on many botany expeditions to do field research and explore more primitive trails. During their Siskiyou expedition they reported traveled around 1,000 miles of unexplored trails. In June 1930, Lilla made the biggest discovery of her career. She discovered and documented a never before seen flowery shrub that belonged to the

heather family The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...

of shrubs. Leach was quoted saying that upon sight of the plant "I dropped to my knees... I have never seen anything so beautiful before." The plant was named two years after the first discovery, after Lilla and John, ''

Kalmiopsis leachiana ''Kalmiopsis leachiana'', commonly referred to as Siskiyou kalmiopsis, is a rare flowering plant endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon, where it is specially protected in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness reserve. It was discovered in 1 ...

''. The plant is native to the southern Oregon region and has yet to be seen elsewhere. Lilla discovered another four unknown plant species during her years in field research.

Awards

Leach was awarded the inaugural Eloise Payne Luquer Medal by the Garden Clubs of America in 1950, and was named Portland Citizen of the Week in September 1945 for her war and conservation work.

Later life and death

Lilla and John bought property in Southeast Portland on the Johnson Creek, where they built a small stone cabin, which they called Sleepy Hollow. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Leachs' research and collecting began to slow as they moved into a retired lifestyle. Lilla and John lived in their home at Johnson Creek until their deaths, John in 1972 and Lilla on September 10, 1980. After Lilla's death, the city of Portland gained ownership of the property and turned it into a public garden, the Leach Botanical Garden, in memory of the two.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Lilla 1886 births 1980 deaths American women botanists 20th-century American botanists 20th-century American women scientists