Rupert Charles Barneby

Who was Rupert Charles Barneby?

Rupert Charles Barneby was a British-born self-taught botanist whose primary specialty was the Fabaceae, the pea family, but he also worked on Menispermaceae and numerous other groups. He was employed by the New York Botanical Garden from the 1950s until shortly before his death.

Barneby published prolifically and named and described over 1,100 new species. In addition, he had 25 species named after him as well as four genera: Barnebya, Barnebyella, Barnebydendron, and Rupertia. He received numerous prestigious botanical awards, including The New York Botanical Garden's Henry Allan Gleason Award, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists' Asa Gray Award, the International Association for Plant Taxonomy's Engler Silver Medal, and the International Botanical Congress's Millennium Botany Award.

His lifelong partner was Harry Dwight Dillon Ripley.