Soubemos hoje do falecimento muito recente (18.IX.2022) do grande botânico britânico, de Edinburgh, Professor Vernon Hilton Heywood (1927-2022) (PhD, DSc, Professor Emeritus at University of Reading), um eminente membro da OPTIMA -Organization for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the Mediterranean Area (https://www.optima-bot.org/index.php/en/)-, que visitou diversas vezes Portugal (aliás visitou quase todo o Mundo, incluindo cerca de 500 viagens a Espanha (!) segundo as suas próprias palavras), e foi um ilustre editor, secretário e colaborador de algumas das principais floras eurasiáticas mais recentes: Flora Europaea (de T.G. Tutin & al. (eds), 1964-1980, 1993) e European Garden Flora: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and under Glass (de S.M. Walters & al., 1984-2000), entre muitas outras actividades.
As fotos são de alguns OPTIMA Meetings e de outros encontros científicos, realizados entre 2005 e 2016 (em Agrigento (Itália, Sicília), Belek (Turquia, Antalya), e Montpellier (França)).
"His publications include several major books including Principles of angiosperm taxonomy (1963),[7] Flowering Plants of the World, and its update Flowering Plant Families of the World (with Richard K. Brummitt, Alastair Culham and Ole Seberg) as well as the Global Biodiversity Assessment." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Heywood).
"En 1987 es galardonado con la Medalla linneana de la Sociedad linneana de Londres.1La ONG Planta Europa lo honró con su "Galardón de Linneo" en su quinta conferencia, hecha en 2007 in Cluj-Napoca, Rumania.2
El libro Taxonomy & Plant Conservation (Cambridge University Press, 2006, Etelka Leadlay & Stephen Jury, eds.) fue dedicado en su tributo en honor de su 75º cumpleaños" (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Hilton_Heywood).
Foi-lhe dedicado um género de Compostas:
Heywoodiella Svent. & Bramwell: "Nach Heywood benannt ist die Pflanzengattung Heywoodiella Svent. & Bramwell aus der Familie der Korbblütler (
Asteraceae)." (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Heywood)
Algumas das suas - muitas e muito importantes - publicações botânicas:
"Principles of Angiosperm Taxonomy; V.H. Heywood & P.H. Davis; Krieger Publishing Company (1970); ISBN 0442020112
Flowering Plants of The World; V.H. Heywood; Oxford University Press (1978)
Vertaald als: Bloeiende planten van de wereld; Vernon H. Heywood; Elsevier (1979); ISBN 9010029182
Flowering Plants of the World (updated edition); V.H. Heywood (redacteur); Oxford University Press (1993); ISBN 0195210379
Flowering Plant Families of the world; V.H. Heywood, R.K. Brummitt, A. Culham & O. Seberg; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2007); ISBN 1842461656
Global Biodiversity Assessment; Vernon H. Heywood (redacteur); Cambridge University Press (1995); ISBN 0521564816
Heywood, H. Vernon 1999. Conservation of the wild relatives of native European crops. p. 146–147. In: J. Janick (ed.), Perspectives on new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA
Heywood, V. and M. Skoula. 1999. The MEDUSA Network: Conservation and sustainable use of wild plants of the Mediterranean region. p. 148–151. In: J. Janick (ed.), Perspectives on new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA
Towards a Global Strategy for Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use; Shelagh Kell, Vernon Heywood & Nigel Maxted; in: Crop wild relatives 5 oktober 2005
Botanic gardens as introduction centres for plants of economic importance – a reappraisal; Vernon H. Heywood; 3rd Global Botanic Gardens Congress (2007)" (https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Heywood)
Segundo as suas próprias palavras, o Prof. Vernon Heywood trabalhou em:
“University of Liverpool
September 1964-December 1967”, como “Professor and Head of Department of Botany”, em “Flora Europaea Multivariate systematics of Umbelliferae Flora and vegetation of Spain Phenetic and numerical approaches to plant classification”
“International Union for Conservation of Nature; BGCI
January 1987-December 1992”, em Richmond, United Kingdom, como “Chief Scientist (Plant Conservation); Director Botanic Gardens Conservation International”, “Responsible for plant conservation throughout the Union. Founded IUCN Botanic Gardens Conservation Secretariat (later BGCI)”
“University of Reading
January 1990-April 2020”, como Professor Emeritus
Em Reading, United Kingdom, School of Biological Sciences, “Formerly Professor and Head of Department of Botany (1968–87), Dean of the Faculty of Science, Chairman School of Biological Sciences. Multivariate systematics of Umbelliferae; European Science Foundation ESFEDS project; Flora Europaea Secretariat”
(https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vernon-Heywood)
