Diana Margaret Napper, who published as D. M. Napper, (23 August 1930, Woking – 31 March 1972, London) was an English botanist, specializing in the systematic botany of East Africa, particularly grasses.[1]

Life edit

She was educated at the University of Exeter, graduating with a B.Sc. in botany in 1953. In 1954 she started working for the Department of Agriculture in Kenya, starting at the Coffee Research Station in Ruiru. In 1955 she transferred to the East African Herbarium in Nairobi.[2] After returning to England, she was for a short time on the staff of the Kew Herbarium.[1]

She studied the families Acanthaceae, Cyperaceae, and Gramineae of East Africa.[3]

Works edit

  • (with K. W. Harker) An illustrated guide to the grasses of Uganda, 1960
  • Grasses of Tanganyika: with keys for identification, 1965

References edit

  1. ^ a b Marilyn Ogilvie; Joy Harvey, eds. (2003). "NAPPER, DIANA MARGARET (1930-1972)". The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives From Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century. Routledge. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-135-96343-9.
  2. ^ Miss D. M. Napper, Kew Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 1 (1973), pp.1-4
  3. ^ Desmond, Ray (11 September 2002). "Napper, Diana Margaret". Dictionary of British and Irish Botantists and Horticulturalists Including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers. CRC Press. p. 2222. ISBN 9781466573871.