DR ELSA POOLEY

Well-known KZN botanical artist receives Honorary Doctorate of Science.

Well-known KZN botanical artist Elsa Pooley received her Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in April. Mercury columnist Marianne Meijer paid tribute to Elsa Pooley in a recent article:

It is a well-deserved accomplishment for someone who has spent 30 years exploring the flora of this province. Not only has Pooley pursued her passion for indigenous plants through collection, researching and writing about these specimens, but she is equally recognised as one of the finest botanical artists in South Africa.

Her expertise as a botanical artist is recognised worldwide. She has exhibited extensively in South Africa and has had work commissioned in South Africa and abroad.

Pooley’s early work resulted in a comprehensive collection of the flora of northern KwaZulu-Natal, which is housed in the Bews Herbarium of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, on the Pietermaritzburg campus.

She has also undertaken other research, ranging from vegetation mapping for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to pioneering work on the use of plants by the people of Maputaland, for the Human Sciences Research Council (HRSC).

Pooley is a skilled botanical artist. Her paintings have been published in the National Botanical Institute series, Flowering Plants of Africa, and her limited-edition portfolio, Palms of Africa, was sold worldwide. Pooley also hosts painting workshops and has taught numerous artists the skill of botanical illustration. She also illustrates plants for scientific journals and has taken part in numerous exhibitions.

Since 1993, Pooley has been the sole author of seven major books, as well as having been the author of the section on plants in another.

Her three major contributions are The Complete Field Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei (1992), A Field Guide to Wildflowers: KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region (1999) and Mountain Flowers: A Field Guide to the Flora of the Drakensberg and Lesotho (2003). These books are used by professional botanists and amateurs. Their high-quality illustrations are invaluable in publications of this kind – they provide not just a means of identification of the varied elements of the local flora, but the well-researched text gives the reader a comprehensive species-by-species background.

The books have played a major role in environmental education. In the art world, Pooley has collaborated with master printer Malcolm Christian, of Caversham Press, on hand-made prints for the Standard Bank Exhibition Science Meets Fine Art - Flowers as Images. That was in 1992.

Botanical art demands the greatest attention to detail to ensure fidelity of reproduction, resulting in the use of such art not only decoratively, but also as a further source of scientific data. The list of institutions commissioning, or otherwise requiring, Pooley’s artwork is impressive. She was also instrumental in starting the KwaZulu-Natal branch of the Botanical Artists Association of Southern Africa (BAASA). This is open to all botanical artists - ranging from scientific illustrators to flower painters.

In 1996, Pooley was voted the KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife and Environmental Society’s Conservationist of the Year and, more recently, was awarded the Marloth Medal from the Botanical Society of South Africa. Her knowledge and versatility bridge the divide between the popular and the academic.
The University of KwaZulu-Natal honoured her for excellence in the enhancement of academic learning and in promoting the advancement of science in the field of botany.”

In her acceptance speech, Dr Elsa Pooley referred to a project related to her books: The Zulu Botanical Knowledge Project or proposed dictionary of Zulu plant names is a collaboration of botanists and linguists from KwaZulu-Natal and the University of KZN. “In 1948, the Doke & Vilakazi Zulu/English dictionary included some wonderful entries on plant names, but nothing has been added since,” Elsa Pooley stated. “My field guides include common names in all local languages. However, these names were mostly collected by English speaking botanists. The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Zulu language department was most helpful in correcting them but in the process it became clear that there was an urgent need for more work in this area. The project is recording Zulu plant names and meanings before this field knowledge is lost.