Webster, Mary McCallum (1906–1985)

views updated

Webster, Mary McCallum (1906–1985)

British botanist. Born Dec 31, 1906, in Sussex, England; died Nov 7, 1985; granddau. of Louisa Wedgwood (botanist); educated by private governesses, then sent to finishing school in Brussels, Belgium.

Noted botanist and talented tennis player (qualified for Wimbledon), joined the Wild Flower Society (1915); joined Botanical Society of the British Isles (1936), serving on the council (1960–66) and on the meetings committee (1960–76); joined the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (1954); visited her brother in Natal, then embarked on a 7-month safari and collected 5,000 species; elected a fellow of Linnean Society (1960); wrote the lauded Flora of Moray, Nairn and East Inverness (1978), based on 50 years of work.