PLANT SYSTEMATICS IN SOUTH AFRICA: A BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW, 1753–1953

Abstract

SUMMARY Three clear phases can be discerned in the development of plant systematics in South Africa: (1) The Linnaean Phase in which Carl Linnaeus and C.P. Thunberg, two Swedish university academics, published the first methodically organised accounts of the Cape flora, 1753–1823, their work being based largely on the philosophical principles set out in Linnaeus's Philosophia Botanica (1751). (2) Apart from early attempts to publish locally by C.F. Ecklon and W.H. Harvey, the second phase, which continued throughout the Victorian period and beyond, was entirely dominated by talented, untrained amateurs like H. Bolus, J. Medley Wood and F. Guthrie (Angiosperms) as well as T.R. Sim (Bryophytes and Pteridophytes). Louisa Bolus continued the amateur tradition into the mid 1960s, describing 4¼% of the currently recognised species of Angiosperms in South Africa. Explicit theoretical and philosophical considerations were non-existent during this phase, their aim being to produce practical taxonomies. (3) The modern phase began in the early 20th century with the South African College offering a degree course in Botany containing basic systematics. This led ultimately to the awarding of the first local doctoral degree in plant systematics to M.R. Levyns in 1932 at the University of Cape Town. Formal academic training in systematics proceeded sporadically at other local universities until the mid 1950s when a minor renaissance took place under E.A. Schelpe at the University of Cape Town, leading to the emergence of a new generation of systematists having both theoretical and practical training. Natal University, under Kathleen Gordon-Gray, followed suit in the 1960s.