John Dransfield Explained

John Dransfield
Known For:	Botany Taxonomy Palm classification
Author Abbrev Bot:	J.Dransf.
Spouse:	Soejatmi Dransfield

John Dransfield (born 1945) is former head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom.^[1]

Dransfield has written or contributed to several books on palms, notably both the first and second editions of Genera Palmarum. The first edition was the standard reference for palm evolution and classification and the second edition, expanding on the original, is expected to achieve that same benchmark.^[2]

He studied at the University of Cambridge, B.A.(1967) biology, M.A. (1970) botany and Ph.D. biology (1970) before working at Kew Gardens.^[3]

Dransfield was awarded the inaugural David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration in 1999, recognising him as the "world authority on the systematics of the palm family (Arecaceae)".^[4] In 2004, he was awarded the Linnean Medal,^[5] an annual award given by the Linnean Society of London. In 2023 Dr. Dransfield was the recipient of the Dent Smith Memorial Award, the highest accolade from the International Palm Society.^[6]

The genus Dransfieldia was named for him, as was the species Adonidia dransfieldii.

He married Soejatmi Dransfield (née Soejatmi Soenarko) in Malaysia (1977).^[7]

Selected works

• The typification of Linnean palms. International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature, 1979.^[8]
• A manual of the rattans of the Malay Peninsula. By John Dransfield. Forest Dept., Ministry of Primary Industries, Malaysia, 1979.^[9]
• The rattans of Sabah. By John Dransfield. Forest Dept. Sabah, 1984.^[10]
• Palmae. By John Dransfield. Published on behalf of the East African Governments by Balkema, 1986.^[11]
• Genera Palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore, Jr. By Harold E. Moore, Natalie W. Uhl and John Dransfield. L.H. Bailey Hortorium, 1987.^[12]
• The palms of the New World: a conservation census. By John Dransfield, Dennis Victor Johnson and Hugh Synge. IUCN, 1988.^[13]
• The rattans of Sarawak. By John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1992.^[14]
• The palms of Madagascar. By John Dransfield and Henk Beentje. Royal Botanic Gardens and the International Palm Society, 1995.^[15]
• Priority species of bamboo and rattan. Edited by A. N. Rao, V. Ramanatha Rao, and J.T. Williams. Bioversity International, 1998.^[16]
• Corybas west of Wallace's Line. By John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2000.^[17]
• World checklist of palms. By Rafaël Govaerts and John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2005.^[18]
• Field guide to the palms of Madagascar. By John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2006.^[19]
• Field guide to the palms of New Guinea. By William J. Baker and John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2006.^[20]
• Genera Palmarum: the evolution and classification of palms. By John Dransfield and Natalie W. Uhl. Kew Pub., 2008.^[21] Received the 2009 Annual Literature Award of the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries.^[2]
• Book: Dransfield. John. John Dransfield. Growth forms of rain forest palms. 247–268. . 9780521142472. 10 June 2010., in
• Beyond Genera Palmarum: progress and prospects in palm systematics By William J. Baker & J Dransfield. 2016. Oxford Academy, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society,2016, 182, 207–233 ^[22]

See also

• Harold E. Moore
• Natalie Whitford Uhl

Bibliography

• Web site: Dransfield John . Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 10 April 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110616031928/http://www.kew.org/science/directory/people/Dransfield_John.html . 16 June 2011 .
• Book: Tomlinson. P. B.. Zimmerman. Martin. Tropical Trees as Living Systems (Proceedings of the fourth Cabot Symposium held at Harvard Forest, Petersham Massachusetts on April 26–30, 1976). 1978. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-14247-2.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kew Magazine Photography . Kew Royal Botanic Gardens official website . Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 18 April 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121007043946/http://www.kew.org/kewmagazine/exhibition/pictures/DSCF0093_John_D.html . 7 October 2012 .
2. Web site: Genera Palmarum: the Evolution and Classification of Palms Edition 2 – Project Completed . Kew Royal Botanic Gardens official website . Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 18 April 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091205150657/http://www.kew.org/science/directory/projects/GeneraPalmarumEd2.html . 5 December 2009 .
3. Web site: Dransfield, John. live. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://web.archive.org/web/20120120150530/http://www.kew.org/science-research-data/directory/people/Dransfield_John.htm. 20 January 2012.
4. Web site: Fairchild Medal . 2023-11-15 . National Tropical Botanical Garden . en-US.
5. Web site: Recipients of the Linnean Medal . The Linnean Society of London official website . The Linnean Society of London . 27 May 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150527225857/http://www.linnean.org/The-Society/awards_and_grants/The+Linnean+Medal . 27 May 2015 .
6. Volume 11.05 Special Edition · May 2023 · Newsletter of the IPS
7. Sands . Martin . 1978 . News of Kewites at home and abroad in 1977 . The Journal of the Kew Guild . 10 . 607–608 . ISSUU.
8. Book: Harold Emery Moore. John Dransfield. The typification of Linnean palms. 18 April 2011. 1979. International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature.
9. Book: John Dransfield. A manual of the rattans of the Malay Peninsula. 18 April 2011. 1979. Forest Dept., Ministry of Primary Industries, Malaysia.
10. Book: John Dransfield. The rattans of Sabah. 18 April 2011. 1984. Forest Dept. Sabah. 9780591134841.
11. Book: John Dransfield. Palmae. 18 April 2011. 1986. CRC Press. 978-90-6191-329-0.
12. Book: Natalie W. Uhl. John Dransfield. Harold Emery Moore. Genera Palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore, Jr. 18 April 2011. 1987. L.H. Bailey Hortorium. 978-0-935868-30-2.
13. Book: John Dransfield. Dennis Victor Johnson. Hugh Synge. The palms of the New World: a conservation census. 18 April 2011. November 1988. IUCN. 978-2-88032-941-9.
14. Book: John Dransfield. The rattans of Sarawak. 18 April 2011. 1992. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 978-0-947643-41-6.
15. Book: John Dransfield. Henk Beentje. The palms of Madagascar. 18 April 2011. 1995. Royal Botanic Gardens and the International Palm Society. 978-0-947643-82-9.
16. Book: A. N. Rao . V. Ramanatha Rao . J.T. Williams . Priority species of bamboo and rattan . 18 April 2011. 1998. Bioversity International. 978-92-9043-491-7.
17. Book: John Dransfield. Corybas West of Wallace's Line. 18 April 2011. 15 January 2000. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 978-1-84246-226-3.
18. Book: Rafaël Govaerts. John Dransfield. World checklist of palms. 18 April 2011. 2005. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 978-1-84246-084-9.
19. Book: John Dransfield. Field guide to the palms of Madagascar. 18 April 2011. 2006. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 978-1-84246-157-0.
20. Book: William J. Baker. John Dransfield. Field guide to the palms of New Guinea. 18 April 2011. December 2006. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 978-1-84246-138-9.
21. Book: John Dransfield. Natalie W. Uhl. Genera Palmarum: the evolution and classification of palms. 18 April 2011. 2008. Kew Pub.. 978-1-84246-182-2.
22. Baker . William J. . Dransfield . John. Beyond Genera Palmarum: progress and prospects in palm systematics . Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society . 182. 2 . 2016 . 207–233 . 10.1111/boj.12401 . free .