Alison Marjorie Ashby

Alison Ashby MBE
Born	Alison Marjorie Ashby (1901-02-07)7 February 1901 North Adelaide,Adelaide,South Australia
Died	12 August 1987(1987-08-12)(aged 86) Victor Harbor,South Australia
Known for	botanical artist and plant collector
Scientific career
Fields	Botany
Author abbrev. (botany)	A.M.Ashby

Acacia ashbyae

Alison Marjorie AshbyMBE(7 February 1901 – 12 August 1987) was an Australianbotanical artistandplant collector.

Early life

Ashby was born inAdelaide,South Australiaas a youngest daughter of four children, of aproperty developerandnaturalistEdwin Ashbyand his South Australian-born wife Esther Maria, née Coleman. In 1902, the family moved to aBlackwoodfarming property called Wittunga situated at the foot of theAdelaide Hills,which later became theWittunga Botanic Garden.Ashby was mainly educated at home since she was handicapped byshyness,badstutterandhypothyroidism.Encouraged by her father, she took an interest in native plants and began paintingwildflowers.

Career

From 1944, after both her parents had died, Ashby began to make longer trips tocollect plantsas specimens for variousherbariaand also topropagatefrom seeds and cuttings. She was an active member of the South Australian branch of theSociety for Growing Australian Plants.From 1963 to 1977, she made regular car journeys each year to collect and illustrate plants, driving toSouthwest Australiain the winter and to theAustralian Alpsin the summer. In 1972, she moved toVictor Harborand died in 1987.

Ashby's inherited section of her family's Wittunga property was donated to theNational Trust of South Australiain 1957 and became the 32 haWatiparinga Reserve.Her 1500 botanical paintings were mostly donated to theSouth Australian Museumand are now held in theState Herbarium.Plants named in her honour includeAcacia ashbyaeandSolanum ashbyae.

Honours and awards

• MBE(1960)
• Australian Natural History Medallion(1975)