Elsie Elizabeth Esterhuysen

Elsie Elizabeth Esterhuysen (born 1912 – died 2006) was a South African botanist^[1]

She worked at the Bolus Herbarium, the oldest functioning herbarium in South Africa established in 1856, and was described as "the most outstanding collector ever of South African flora", amassing 36,000 herbarium specimens.^[2]

She concentrated on collecting from the high altitude areas of the Cape as she was also a capable mountaineer. It is estimated that she discovered about 150 Taxa and there are about 34 species and 2 genera named after her.

She was awarded an honorary Masters of Science Degree by the University of Cape Town in 1989^[3]

Selected works

• Esterhuysen, Elsie Elizabeth (1936). "Regeneration after clearing at Kirstenbosch". Journal of South African Botany 2: 177–185.

References

1. Oliver, E.G.H.; Rourke, J.P.; Linder, H.P. (2007), "Obituary: Elsie Elizabeth Esterhuysen (1912-2006)", Bothalia (Pretoria) 37: 119–128
2. Umberto Quattrocchi (17 November 1999). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. University of Palermo, Italy: CRC Press.
3. https://www.uct.ac.za/about/honours/degrees/graduates/
4. "Author Query for 'Esterh.'". International Plant Names Index.

External links

• Biography of Elsie Elizabeth Esterhuysen at the S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science