#tbt "My work is what will survive", she said. She co-authored this 1945 book, with chromosomes of over 10,000 plants. Magnolias that botanist & cytogeneticist Janaki Ammal planted at RHS around then survive too, including this one named after her ...1/9 natsca.blog/2019/04/26/my-…
...E.K. Janaki Ammal (1897-1984) was 10th of 19 children in a mixed-race family in Kerala, India, with caste adding to the discrimination in her life. She chose a life in science over a planned marriage & her achievements are the stuff of legends thebetterindia.com/75174/janaki-a… ...2/9
...Janaki earned a master's degree in botany from the University of Michigan in 1925. She returned on another Barbour scholarship to become the first woman to earn a PhD in Botany there - & they conferred an honorary doctorate in science to her too...3/9 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janaki_Am…
...Hard to imagine the barriers she overcame. She was detained at Ellis Island once, released when someone mistook her for an Indian princess: she was wearing traditional silks...“I did not deny it”.
In 2018, a rose with the colors she so often wore was named after her...4/9
...In the US, she developed an eggplant called Janaki Brengal. Back in India she worked at the Sugarcane Breeding Station, evolving major breeds of sugarcane that could be grown in India: she's known as the woman who made Indian sugarcane sweet...5/9 alchetron.com/Janaki-Ammal
...Facing caste & gender discrimination, though, she moved to London, joining CD Darlington at the John Innes Horticultural Institute, & worked on flowers & ethnobotany, & that atlas of chromosomes...6/9 scroll.in/article/730186…
...Janaki was headhunted by the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) & was the 1st female scientist they employed. She published papers, worked on medicinal plants, traveled internationally & collected specimens, exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show - & planted those magnolias...7/9
...Janaki met Nehru - as in, the Prime Minister of India - on a plane. He lured her back to head the Botanical Survey of India in 1952, where she led the creation of an inventory of India's plant resources, & was a professor too. A Gandhian, she lived an ascetic life...8/9
...Janaki became a powerful advocate for indigenous plants & biodiversity. At 80, she lent her influence to a community movement to prevent a dam being built in Kerala. A national park ensured it remains an undisturbed home to endangered species. 9/9 smithsonianmag.com/science-nature…
...PS: oops - I left out, the first RHS employed there at Wisley. Which gives me another excuse to show Magnolia Kobus Janaki Ammal!
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