Robert Allen Dyer (21 September 1900 in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

– 26 October 1987 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

) was a South African botanist and

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...

, working particularly on

Amaryllidaceae The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus '' Amaryllis'' and is commonly known as the amaryl ...

and

succulent plant 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 ...

s, contributing to and editing of ''Bothalia'' and ''Flowering Plants of Africa'' and holding the office of Director of the Botanical Research Institute in Pretoria from 1944 to 1963.

Education and career

Attended

Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal, Balgowan valley in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Spear’s Schools Index 2025 reco ...

and Natal University College 1919-1923, obtaining the degrees of M.Sc. in 1923 and D.Sc. in 1937. Appointed as assistant to Selmar Schonland in

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

in 1925, as well as curator of the Albany Museum Herbarium. After doing a three-year stint (1931-1934) as liaison officer with 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 ...

, he was transferred to the National Herbarium in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. Here he became Chief and subsequently Director from 1944 to 1963. He revived the Botanical Survey Section and started the Pretoria National Botanic Garden, as well as editing ''Bothalia'', ''The Flowering Plants of Africa'', ''Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa'', and launching the ''Flora of Southern Africa''. After retiring in 1963, he continued working at the Institute, devoting his time to producing ''Genera of Southern African Flowering Plants''. His last major work dealt with ''Ceropegia'', ''Brachystelma'' and ''Riocreuxia'' and appeared in Flora of Southern Africa in 1981. In all, he produced some 450 publications. His greatest contributions were in the field of plant taxonomy and he published extensively in ''Flowering Plants of Africa'' and ''Bothalia''. Commemorated in the genus ''Radyera'' Bullock, ''Aridaria dyeri'' N.E.Br. and ''Hereroa dyeri'' L.Bol. His collected botanical specimens number over 6000 and are lodged in Pretoria, Grahamstown, Kew and the Bolus Herbarium.

Major publications

*''The Succulent Euphorbiae'' (1941) with White & Sloane *''The South African

Cycads Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or ...

'' (Bothalia 1963) *''Flora of Southern Africa'' - Myrsinaceae,

Primulaceae The Primulaceae ( ), commonly known as the primrose family (but not related to the Onagraceae, evening primrose family), are a family (biology), family of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous and woody flowering plants including some favourite garden pla ...

and

Plumbaginaceae Plumbaginaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort family or the plumbago family. Most species in this family are perennial plant, perennial h ...

(1963) *''Flora of Southern Africa'' -

Stangeriaceae The Zamiaceae are a family of cycads that are superficially palm or fern-like. They are divided into two subfamilies with eight genera and about 150 species in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and North and South America. ...

, Zamiaceae (with I.C. Verdoorn 1966) *

Awards and fellowships

*Fellow of the American Cactus and Succulent Society 1941 *Herbert Medal (American Amaryllis Society) *President of Section C of S.A. Assoc. for Adv. of Science 1941/42 *Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa 1945 *President of S.A. Biological Society 1948 *Senior Capt. Scott Medal (S.A. Biological Society) *President of Pretoria Horticultural Society 1961-1972 *S.A. Assoc. of Botanists Gold Medal 1973 *Honorary D.Sc. from Witwatersrand University 1976

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dyer, Robert Allen 20th-century South African botanists South African taxonomists 1900 births 1987 deaths