Much-loved botanist wins award
Elsa Pooley is the second recipient of the John Medley Wood Medal.
RENOWNED South Coast botanist, author, indigenous landscaper and artist Elsa Pooley has received a major conservation award.
The Durban Botanic Gardens Trust has presented her with a John Medley Wood Medal for the exceptional service she has rendered to botany and to the flora of KwaZulu-Natal. She is the second person to receive this prestigious lifetime award.
Elsa is the author of a number of tree and flower field guides, has spent many years painting, collecting and classifying floral species and is a founder member of the Botanical Artists’ Association of Southern Africa. Widely recognised as a guru when it comes to indigenous gardening, she is an incredibly knowledgeable amateur botanist who is always generous with her knowledge. For many years the much-loved botanist has enthusiastically promoted the use of our beautiful indigenous plants in our gardens.
Elsa’s interest in KwaZulu-Natal’s magnificent flora was kindled after she met and married game ranger and crocodile expert, Tony Pooley. In 1965, the couple moved to Ndumo Game Reserve, on the Mozambique border and it was there that she developed her fascination for the unique plants in our province. The Pooley family also lived St Lucia. Elsa now lives in Clansthal from where she works as an indigenous plant landscaping consultant.
She has now joined forces with Andrew Hankey and another well-known South Coast indigenous gardening expert, Geoff Nichols, to produce a new book on the indigenous garden plants of South Africa.
The John Medley Wood Medal was named after a former director and curator of the Durban Botanic Gardens. It was inaugurated in 2012 when it was presented to the only other recipient, Durban Botanist Roddy Ward.
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