Abstract
THE death of the Rev. Dr. T. Stephenson, at Hindhead on April 15, removed yet another of that band of amateur botanists (others were Mr. H. W. Pugsley, Col. M. J. Godfery and Mr. P. M. Hall) who did so much during the past thirty years to advance our knowledge of British orchids. Born at Brackley in Northamptonshire in 1865, Dr. Stephenson was a minister of the Methodist Church for many years until his retirement in 1934. The continual change of residence involved in his calling brought him into many parts of Britain and enabled him to study his favourite group of plants in a great range of conditions and habitats. He concentrated especially on the marsh and spotted orchids (Orchis, section Dactylorchis) and on the helleborines (Epi-pactis), both extremely difficult and little-understood groups. In a series of more than twenty papers published during the period 1918–42, many of which were written in collaboration with his son, Prof. T. A. Stephenson, or with Col. M. J. Godfery, he contributed materially towards the elucidation and clarification of these two genera. His outstanding contribution was the recognition and description of Orchis purpurella, now known to be one of the most widespread marsh orchids of Britain.
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SUMMERHAYES, V. Dr. Thomas Stephenson. Nature 161, 799 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161799a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161799a0