Douglas Mackay Henderson

Douglas Mackay Henderson CBE FRSE (30 August 1927 – 10 November 2007) was a Scottish botanist, the 12th Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1970 to 1987.

Life

He was born in Blairgowrie, Scotland to Captain Frank Morrison Henderson of the Merchant Navy and educated at Blairgowrie High School (1932-1944) and the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with first class honours in botany.

He worked at the Molteno Institute for Research in Parasitology in Cambridge, studying methods of plant virology, before joining the Department of Agriculture for Scotland in 1948 at their research establishment at East Craigs, Edinburgh. In 1951 he moved to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) as a Scientific Officer, becoming Principal Scientific Officer in 1961.

After overseeing expansion of the herbarium and the library, he took sabbatical leave, sponsored by the US Atomic Authority, to work on pollen structure in Solna, Stockholm. There his work introduced him to poppies in the genus Meconopsis and led to a seminal paper on the pollen of the constituent members. He was also able to study the morphology and structure of rust fungi spores. Henderson later introduced the first electron microscope to the RBGE.

In 1970 he was appointed the 12th Regius Keeper of the RBGE, a position he held until 1987. During his tenure he expanded and diversified the role of the RBGE, expanding the educational facilities. From 1969 to 1981 he served as Secretary of the newly formed International Association of Botanical Gardens, which comprised some 1500 organisations. He was appointed CBE in the 1985 Birthday Honours.

On his retirement in 1987 he accepted the post of Administrator at Inverewe Garden, Wester Ross for the National Trust for Scotland.

He married Julia Margaret Brown in 1952. He died in 2007.

The standard author abbreviation D.M.Hend. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[1]

Honours and awards

References

  1. ↑ IPNI.  D.M.Hend.
  • "Douglas Mackay Henderson" (PDF). Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
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