The PCU says farewell to botanist Dr Graham Williamson who passed away earlier this month

The Plant Conservation Unit (PCU) was sad to learn of the passing of Dr Graham Williamson, who passed away peacefully at his home in Cape Town on 12 October 2017. After Graham’s passing, his daughter Carolyn Williamson sent the following notice to friends and colleagues who knew Graham:

“Graham was a dentist and botanist who spent his life travelling, collecting, photographing and documenting nature in southern and central Africa. He published extensively with many scientific papers describing new plant species, and also wrote three major books on plants and the environment, of which he is most famous for his book on the Richtersveld titled, ‘Richtersveld: The Enchanted Wilderness’. Graham leaves behind his wife, Françoise (also a plant collector who enthusiastically shared all of his adventures), and his daughters Anna-Lise, Mags, Joanne and Carolyn.

Graham was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1932. His passion for plants started at the age of six when he collected his first succulent. When deciding on a career path, he realised that opportunities for natural scientists were limited and so decided on a career in dentistry. After graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand, he worked as dentist for over thirty years. Soon after graduating, he set up a private practice in Zambia. Here he spent several years researching and collecting Euphorbia species and orchids [1]. His collections of succulent Euphorbias assisted in the description of new species and clarification of more than half of the Zambian Euphorbias [1]. His research on orchids led to the publication of, ‘The Orchids of South Central Africa’, which was published in 1978. Eventually he moved back to South Africa and worked as a Senior Dental Officer for Anglo American in Namibia, which gave him the opportunity to explore the restricted Sperrgebeit and semi-arid areas of the Richtersveld. This eventually led to working alongside Sir David Attenborough on the Richtersveld section of the BBC nature documentary, ‘The Private Life of Plants’ [1]. In addition, Graham and Françoise recently (2016) published a book on the Sperrgebeit titled, ‘The Sperrgebiet: Nature's Parched Masterpiece’.

Graham has received local and international awards for photography, artwork and botany [1]. He was given the Bolus Award of the Botanical Society of South Africa and the Allen Dyer Award of the Succulent Society of South Africa [1]. During his lifetime, he collected and illustrated over 450 plant species, and his published descriptions to date comprise of over 60 new plant species and subspecies in 23 genera. Both he and Françoise have been commemorated in the naming of a variety of succulent plants and several indigenous orchids.”

The PCU is fortunate to house several of Graham’s photographs of Aloe pillansii (now Aloidendron pillansii) also known as the Giant Quiver Tree from his adventures in the Richtersveld. See some of these images below. We were also fortunate to know his granddaughter, Anabelle Cardoso, who was a student at the University of Cape Town and worked at the PCU for six months.

Graham was an inspiring and passionate man who will be sorely missed.

~ Article compiled by Samantha Venter

[1] refers to information supplied by Umdaus Press (http://www.succulents.net/backup/umdaus/richtersveld.html).