Roland Edgar Cooper

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This so ...

FRSGS The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...

(16 June 1890 – 31 January 1962) was a British botanist and Curator of the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

from 1936 to 1950. Within the Gardens the Roland Edgar Cooper Collection stems from his own work. A number of species found by him bear the name ''Cooperi''. A large number of

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nativ ...

s collected by Cooper continue to grow in the Gardens.

Life

He was born at

Kingston-on-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

in 1890, and was apparently orphaned aged only four and later raised by his aunt Emma. Her husband,

William Wright Smith Sir William Wright Smith FRS FRSE FLS VMH LLD (2 February 1875 Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire – 15 December 1956) was a Scottish botanist and horticulturalist. Life He was born at Parkend farm near Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire, the son of James T. ...

, later became Regius Keeper of the

, creating Roland's link to his future role. In 1907 he travelled to India with his uncle to study and collect samples in

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...

until 1910. This was aided by the local collector and plant expert, Rohmoo Lapcha. He then came to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to undertake a

Horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

course at the Royal Botanic Garden. In 1913 he returned to India (without his uncle) and travelled more widely in search of species, beginning in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

. He again explored

and in 1914–15 returned to

, before exploring the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

in 1916. In the second half of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, he served as an officer with the

1st Gurkha Rifles 1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment), often referred to as the 1st Gorkha Rifles, or 1 GR in abbreviation, is the most senior Gorkha Infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally formed as part of the East India Company's Bengal Arm ...

in north-west India. He was later attached to the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

and stationed at

Alexandria, Egypt Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

in 1918–19. Staying mentally attached to the Indian subcontinent, he took on the role of Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens at Maymo in the

Shan Hills The Shan Hills ( my, ရှမ်းရိုးမ; ''Shan Yoma''), also known as Shan Highland, is a vast mountainous zone that extends through Yunnan to Myanmar and Thailand. The whole region is made up of numerous mountain ranges separated ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

in 1921. Now married and with a young family, he returned to Britain in the late 1920s for the sake of his children's education. In 1930 he returned to Edinburgh as Assistant Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens. In 1934, he became full Curator (Head Keeper) of the Gardens. During the early 1930s, he was also responsible for laying out the grounds of

Astley Ainslie Hospital The Astley Ainslie Hospital is a community hospital in The Grange, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is operated by NHS Lothian. History David Ainslie, who died in 1900, left £800,000 for the purpose of building and endowing a hospital or institution f ...

. During his curatorship he lived in the East Gate Lodge with his wife, Emily. During this period (1930–54) fellow botanist

John Macqueen Cowan John Macqueen Cowan FRSE CBE (1891–1960) was a prominent Scottish botanist in the mid 20th century. He is especially remembered for the recording and classification of trees on the Indian sub-continent. He was also an expert on Spermatophytes. ...

worked alongside Cooper. In 1942 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Scotland. His proposers included his uncle, by this time Sir

Thomas Rowatt Thomas Rowatt FRSE FSAS OBE MM (1879–1950) was a 20th century Scottish engineer who became Keeper then Director of the Royal Scottish Museum. Life He was born in Kew on 7 November 1879 to Scottish parents. His grandfather Thomas Rowatt (d ...

and

Ernest Shearer Ernest Shearer FRSE (1879–14 September 1945) was a British agriculturalist and academic. Life He was born in Stromness on Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipel ...

. He retired in 1950 and moved with his wife, Emily, to

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He died at

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

on 31 January 1962, aged 71.

Species described by Cooper

* '' Primula calderiana'' Balf.f. & R.E.Cooper * ''

Primula xanthopia ''Primula'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. They include the primrose ('' P. vulgaris''), a familiar wildflower of banks and verges. Other common species are '' P. auricula'' (auricula), '' P. veris'' (co ...

'' Balf.f. & R.E.Cooper * ''

Rhododendron agripeplum ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nativ ...

'' Balf.f. & R.E.Cooper * ''

Rhododendron papillatum ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are ...

'' Balf.f. & R.E.Cooper

Species bearing his name

* ''

Parnassia cooperi The genus ''Parnassia'', also known as grass of Parnassus or bog-stars, are plants now placed in the family Celastraceae, formerly classified in Parnassiaceae or Saxifragaceae. The plants occur in arctic and alpine habitats, as well as in ...

'' W.E.Evans * ''

Pedicularis cooperi ''Pedicularis'' is a genus of perennial green root parasite plants currently placed in the family Orobanchaceae (the genus previously having been placed in Scrophulariaceae '' sensu lato''). Description Between 350 and 600 species are a ...

'' P.C.Tsoong * ''

Poa cooperi ''Poa'' is a genus of about 570 species of Poaceae, grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass (mainly in Europe and Asia), bluegrass (mainly in North America), tussock (some New Zealand sp ...

'' Noltie * '' Primula cooperi'' Balf.f. * ''

Rubus cooperi ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of thes ...

'' D.G.Long

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Roland Edgar 1890 births 1962 deaths British botanists People associated with Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh