Thomas Gaskell Tutin, 21 April 1908 - 7 October 1987

Thomas Gaskell Tutin will be remembered by countless botanists and naturalists for the great definitive flora of the British Isles, which appeared first in 1952 and which, aided by its field versions, has remained the source for nearly all taxonomic work ever since. Anyone who was a student at that time will recall the way in which the confusion that had reigned previously was suddenly stilled by the appearance of this orderly, scientific, easily usable volume. But those with wider interests will know the central role played by Tom Tutin in the much bigger flora of Europe, which began to appear in 1964 and was only completed when the fifth volume was published in 1980. It is by these two important works that he has given himself a major and enduring place in plant science.