- Brian Grieve
Professor Brian John Grieve (
15 August 1907 –5 September 1997 ) was an Australianbotanist best known for his multi-volume book series "How to know Western Australian wildflowers ".Born in Allans Flat, Victoria, he was educated at Williamstown High School, then matriculated to the
University of Melbourne . He graduated withFirst Class Honours inBotany in 1929, and the following year was awarded anM.Sc. . He then won an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship that enabled him to undertake Doctoral studies at theUniversity of London .Grieve returned to Victoria in 1931, taking up a lecturing position at the University of Melbourne. He remained there until 1947, except for a period in 1938 and 1939 when he studied
mycology at theUniversity of Cambridge , and a brief time serving in theRoyal Australian Naval Reserve early inWorld War II . During World War II his university research included an investigation into fungal contamination offield glasses inNew Guinea .In 1947, Grieve moved to
Western Australia to become head of theUniversity of Western Australia 's Botany Department. In 1957 he became the Department's Foundation Professor. His research interests were broad, taking in general botany,anatomy ,physiology ,genetics ,biosystematics ,ecology ,mycology andsystematics . Later, he began to specialise in the physiology ofAustralia 's native plants, especially their water relationships.Grieve was a long-time member of the
Royal Society of Western Australia , joining in 1948, and twice serving as President. He was made an Honorary Life Member in 1975, and was awarded the Society's Medal in 1979. He also served on theKings Park Board from 1959 to 1978.In the public's eye, he is best known for his contributions to the "How to Know Western Australian Wildflowers" project, a series of books on systematic identification of the
flora of Western Australia begun byWilliam Blackall , and continued by Grieve after Blackall's death in 1941. Interestingly, despite working on the project for over fifty years, he never published a formal taxonomic paper, and so does not have a formal botanical author abbreviation.References
*
Further reading
* "Western Australian Wildflower Society Newsletter", August 1992, "pp."12-16
* Emeritus professor Brian John Grieve, 1907-1997, "Leader", 6 October 1997, "p."6
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