Phoebe Lankester: The Widowed Botanist Who Made Wildflowers Worth Notice

Phoebe Lankester (1825-1900), a prominent British botanist and popular science writer.

Penelope the British Botanist April 9, 1900 Today is the anniversary of the death of the British botanist, author, pragmatist, and survivor, Phoebe Lankester. Phoebe’s birthday is tomorrow. Born in 1825 as Phoebe Pope, she married the naturalist Edwin Lankester- who was a coroner and medical reformer. Together, they had eleven children. When Phoebe was 49,…

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Gardens of Words: How Phebe Lankester Cultivated Knowledge for the Masses

Herman G. Herkomer Portrait of Mrs Phoebe Lankester c. 1895.

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 9, 1900 On this day, British botanist and author Phebe Lankester departed this mortal coil, though one imagines she did so with the same practical determination with which she lived her extraordinary…

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