Ursula Katherine Duncan

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Ursula Katherine Duncan (born September 17, 1910 in London , † January 27, 1985 in Parkhill , Arbroath ) was a British botanist . She was considered to be the authority on taxonomic issues in peat moss .

Life

Ursula Duncan was the daughter of John Alexander Duncan, Commander, and Beatrice Dorothy Percy, b. Weston born. At first she did not receive any formal training. Her interest in botany showed at the age of 10 and was encouraged by her father. In her teenage years she showed an interest in determining mosses, whereupon her father provided her with a copy of Dixon's Handbook and a dissecting microscope in 1929.

Together with Evelyn Lobley, she worked for 22 years as a consultant for peat moss in the British Bryological Society . She maintained a lively correspondence with bryologists of her time and summarized her findings in 1961 in the work Illustrated Key to Sphagnum Mosses . This book is considered to be one of her most important works. In addition to her research on mosses, Ursula Duncan did research on lichens and flowering plants and published her findings.

Honors

In recognition of her contributions to botany, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Dundee in 1969 . The Linnean Society of London honored her with the HH Bloomer Award in 1973 . In 1980 she made the British Bryological Society an honorary member.

Publications (excerpt)

  • Flora of East Ross-shire , Edinburgh: Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 1980
  • Introduction to British lichens , Arbroath: T. Buncle & Co. Ltd., 1970
  • A survey of the bryophytes and lichens of "The Burn," Kincardine , Edinburgh: Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 1960
  • A guide to the study of lichens , Arbroath: T. Buncle & Co. Ltd., 1959

literature

  • Renate Strohmeyer: Lexicon of the natural scientists and women of Europe . Verlag Harri Deutsch, ISBN 3-8171-1567-9 , p. 89.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andrew Thomas Gage, William Thomas Stearn : A Bicentenary History of the Linnean Society of London . Academic Press, 1988, ISBN 0-12-273150-6 , p. 134.
personal data
SURNAME Duncan, Ursula Katherine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British botanist
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH January 27, 1985
Place of death Parkhill , Arbroath