User:Entohist/Clara Winsome Muirhead

Clara Winsome Muirhead[1]
Born(1916-01-06)January 6, 1916[2]
DiedMarch 7, 1985(1985-03-07) (aged 69)
NationalityScottish
EducationStudley College of Horticulture
Known forplant collecting, describing species of Sempervivum
Scientific career
Fieldsbotany, plant collecting
InstitutionsRoyal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
Author abbrev. (botany)Muirhead

Clara Winsome Muirhead (1916-1985) was a Scottish botanist and plant collector who spent most of her career at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and was an expert on mosses, cacti, and succulents[1].

Life

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Clara Winsome Muirhead (known as "Win") was born in Cumbria to Scottish parents. Her father was in the Merchant Navy and her mother was a market gardener[1]. She studied horticulture at Studley College, Warwickshire between 1933 and 1935[2]. From 1938 to 1943, Muirhead worked in the herbarium at Tullie House Museum, Carlisle and from 1943 to 1945, she was part of the Women's Royal Naval Service in the codebreaking department[2]. Between 1953 and 1975, Muirhead worked at the herbarium at the Royal Botanics[1]. She continued to collect and record plants until 1980, when she had a stroke[1]. She bequeathed her personal herbarium collection to the University of Plymouth which became the Clara Winsome Muirhead Memorial Herbarium. She died of a heart attack on 7th March 1985[2].

Work on Sempervivum

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Muirhead described several new species in the genus Sempervivum[3]. These include: S. artvinense, S. brevipilum, S. davisii, S. furseorum, S. gilliani, S. ispartae, and S. transcaucasicum.

Recognition

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A cultivar of Cassiope was named for Muirhead by R.B. Cooke, who named it C. 'Muirhead' (C. wardii x C. lycopodioides)[4].

Publications

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Muirhead's published works include

  • Muirhead, C.W. (1962) The Flora of Easdale and the Garvellachs. Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 39: 316-342. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594866209441714
  • Muirhead, C.W. (1966) Sempervivum globiferum [S. transcaucasicum]. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 26: 284-285
  • Muirhead, C.W. (1969) Turkish species of Sempervivum. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, 29: 15-28

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Murray, C.W. (1986). "Clara Winsome Muirhead 1915-1985" (PDF). BSBI Scottish Newsletter (8): 11.
  2. ^ a b c d Merrett, Dorothy (2014). "Note on the Clara Winsome Muirhead Memorial Herbarium". Department of Biology, University of Plymouth. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Results for "Muirhead"". International Crassulaceae Network. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  4. ^ "L.A.L. (1975). "Retirement Note. 1975. Win Muirhead Retires". Retrieved 29 August 2020.


Category:Scottish botanists Category:Scottish women scientists