JARS v51n4 - In Memoriam: William Raymond Philipson

In Memoriam: William Raymond Philipson

Professor William Raymond Philipson of Greytown, New Zealand, died suddenly on March 28,1997, at his home in Greytown. In addition to his life-long studies in a number of botanical fields in which he had an international reputation, Professor Philipson worked on various aspects of the genus Rhododendron . Separately and together, he and his wife, Melva Philipson, published botanical studies on anatomy, morphology, the history of rhododendron classification, and embryology as well as a revision of Subsection Lapponica . This was later incorporated into Dr. James Cullen's revision of the lepidotes, published from Edinburgh. He also published articles on a number of more general but botanical aspects of the genus in various horticultural journals.

The Philipsons' most recent contribution was the article "The Taxonomy of the Genus: A History," in The Rhododendron Story , published by the RHS in 1996. Professor Philipson, born in England in 1911, came to New Zealand in 1951 and was the first professor of botany at the University of Canterbury.

The American Rhododendron Society expresses its sympathy to Mrs. Philipson and her family.