Helena M. L. Forbes

Helena M. L. Forbes (11 September 1900 – 5 September 1959) was a Scottish botanist, plant collector and curator who worked primarily on South African flora.

Helena M. L. Forbes
Born(1900-09-11)11 September 1900
Forfar, Scotland
Died5 September 1959(1959-09-05) (aged 58)
South Africa
OccupationBotanist
Years active1919–1955
EmployerNatal Herbarium

Biography

Helena Madelain Lamond Forbes was born on 11 September 1900 in Forfar, Scotland.[1] When she was a young child, her parents emigrated to Durban and Forbes childhood was spent there.[1] On 1 July 1919 she joined Natal Herbarium in Durban as a Junior Assistant in the Botany Division.[2] She became responsible for herbarium maintenance and plant identification.[3] From 1936–37 she worked at Kew Gardens as the South African Liaison Officer.[4] She subsequently returned to South Africa, where she joined the National Herbarium in Pretoria in 1938.[1] In 1940 she returned to Natal Herbarium as Curator and stayed in post until her retirement on 10 September 1955.[1][2] At her retirement she was described as "a stalwart that kept botanical wheels turning at the herbarium".[3] She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and died on 5 September 1959.[2]

Research

Forbes was recognised as an authority on the flora of the Natal and, whilst she did not publish widely, she did contribute major revisions of two genera: Psoralea and Tephrosia.[1] Work on Psoralea had begun as early in her career as 1923 and in 1934 she began her work on Tephrosia.[3] During her lifetime she published thirty-two plant names,[5] some of which include: the taxon Ophrestia;[6] Kalanchoe albiflora.[7] During her time at the Natal Herbarium she contributed 1400 specimens to the collection, most of which were from the region.[4] Early in her career she worked on the genus Cassia, as well as flora from Isipingo.[3]

Eponym

The Indian Ocean alga Beckerella helenae is named after Forbes.[8]

Selected publications
Wikispecies has information related to Helena M.L. Forbes.
  • 'The Genus Psoralea Linn.' in Bothalia (1936).[9]
  • 'A further record of the genus azalea in South Africa. A. Alata (sim) h. Forbes.' South African Journal of Science (1939).[10]

The standard author abbreviation H.M.L.Forbes is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[11]

References
  1. Gunn, Mary; Codd, L. E. W. (1 June 1981). Botanical Exploration Southern Africa. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-86961-129-6.
  2. "Obituary; Miss Helena M.L. Forbes". South African Journal of Science. hdl:10520/AJA00382353_918. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  3. Shrire, B. D. (17 December 1983). "Centenary of the Natal Herbarium, Durban, 1882–1982". Bothalia. 14 (2): 223–236. doi:10.4102/abc.v14i2.1167. ISSN 2311-9284.
  4. "Forbes, Helena Madelain Lamond (1900–1959) on JSTOR". plants.jstor.org. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  5. "Forbes, Helena M.L. | International Plant Names Index". www.ipni.org. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  6. "Ophrestia H.M.L.Forbes". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  7. "Kalanchoe albiflora H.M.L. Forbes — The Plant List". www.theplantlist.org. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  8. Silva, Paul C.; Basson, Philip W.; Moe, Richard L. (22 September 1996). Catalogue of the Benthic Marine Algae of the Indian Ocean. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-91581-7.
  9. Forbes, Helena M. L. (25 November 1936). "The Genus Psoralea Linn". Bothalia. 3 (1): 116–138. doi:10.4102/abc.v3i1.1742. ISSN 2311-9284.
  10. Forbes, H. L. "A further record of the genus azalea in South Africa. A. Alata (sim) h. Forbes." South African Journal of Science 36.12 (1939): 315.
  11. International Plant Names Index.  H.M.L.Forbes.
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