Allen, Betty Molesworth (1913–2002)
Allen, Betty Molesworth (1913–2002)
New Zealand botanist. Born Betty Eleanor Gosset Molesworth in 1913 in New Zealand; died Oct 11, 2002, in Marbella, Spain; attended University of New Zealand; m. Geoffrey Allen (fighter pilot and amateur ornithologist), 1947 (died 1985); no children.
Discoverer of the living fossil Psilotum nudum in Spain, a plant thought only to be found in the tropics, began career mounting specimens collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander during the voyage of HMS Endeavour at Auckland Museum, under the tutelage of Lucy Cranwell; came under the influence of J. Holloway at University of New Zealand; succeeded Cranwell at Auckland Museum (1946); went on a series of expeditions in Borneo and Thailand; also worked in the herbarium of the Singapore Botanic Gardens; with husband, retired and moved to Los Barrios in southern Spain (1963); writings include Appendix 2 of Holttum's Ferns of Malaya and A Selection of Flowers of Andalucia (1993), among others. Named OBE (1998).