# John Patrick Rourke

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**John Patrick Rourke** [FMLS](/source/Linnean_Society_of_London) (born 26 March 1942 in [Cape Town](/source/Cape_Town)) is a South African [botanist](/source/Botanist), who worked at the [Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden](/source/Kirstenbosch_National_Botanical_Garden) and became [curator](/source/Curator) of the Compton Herbarium. He is a specialist in the flora of the [Cape Floristic Region](/source/Cape_Floristic_Region), in particular the family [Proteaceae](/source/Proteaceae).

## Career

Rourke studied at the [University of Cape Town](/source/University_of_Cape_Town) from 1960 to 1970, where he obtained his B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. He started working at Kirstenbosch in 1966, and succeeded [Winsome Fanny Barker](/source/Winsome_Fanny_Barker) as curator of the Compton Herbarium in 1972. He published several revisions of Proteacean genera including *[Leucadendron](/source/Leucadendron)*, *[Leucospermum](/source/Leucospermum)*, *[Mimetes](/source/Mimetes)*, *[Vexatorella](/source/Vexatorella)*, *[Sorocephalus](/source/Sorocephalus)* and *[Spatalla](/source/Spatalla)*.[1]

During his career he collected approximately 2000 specimens of flora from the southwestern and southern Cape, [Namaqualand](/source/Namaqualand) and [eastern Transvaal](/source/Mpumalanga).[1]

In 1997 he was made foreign member of the [Linnean Society of London](/source/Linnean_Society_of_London).[2] In 2003 Rourke was awarded the "Gold medal for Lifetime Preservation of the Environment" by [The Cape Tercentenary Foundation](/source/The_Cape_Tercentenary_Foundation).[3]

## Eponyms

Several plant species were named in his honour including:[4]

- *[Cleretum rourkei](/source/Cleretum)*
- *[Grubbia rourkei](/source/Grubbia)*
- *[Watsonia rourkei](/source/Watsonia_(plant))*
- *[Leucadendron rourkei](/source/Leucadendron)*
- *[Galium rourkei](/source/Galium)*
- *[Acmadenia rourkeana](/source/Acmadenia)*
- *[Diosma rourkei](/source/Diosma)*
- *[Thesmophora scopulosa Rourke](/source/Thesmophora)*

## Selected publications

- 1997 Rourke, J.P. *Wild Flowers of South Africa*, Struik Publishers, ISBN 978-1-86825-897-0
- 1982 Rourke, J.P.; Anderson, F.; Ripley, L. *The Proteas of Southern Africa*, Centaur Press, ISBN 978-0-908379-10-1
- 1972. *Taxonomic Studies on Leucospermum* R.Br.: J. of South African Botany 8: Additional Vol. 194 pp.
- 1969. *Taxonomic Studies on Sorocephalus* R.Br.: J. of South African Botany 7: Additional Vol. 124 pp.

## References

1. Gunn, Mary & Codd, L.E.W. (1975). [*Botanical Exploration Southern Africa*](https://books.google.com/books?id=mkfdQ3l1YQUC&pg=PA302). Flora of Southern Africa. CRC Press. p. 302. ISBN 0869611291. Retrieved 10 July 2019.

1. "Record of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London for the Session 1967-68". *Biological Journal of the Linnean Society*. **1** (4): i–xxxi. Oxford University Press (OUP). 1969. [doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1969.tb00125a.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1969.tb00125a.x). [ISSN 0024-4066](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0024-4066) (subscription required)

1. ["Archives"](http://www.cape300foundation.org.za/archives-awards.htm). *Cape Tercentenary Foundation*. Retrieved 10 July 2019.

1. Van Dievoet, Héloïse (1 July 2016). ["John Patrick Rourke"](http://sieplex.com/article/john-patrick-rourke) (in Dutch). *sieplex*. Retrieved 10 July 2019.

## External links

- [John Patrick Rourke](https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.k36456) on *JSTOR*
- [John Patrick Rourke](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/John-Patrick-Rourke/49052542) on *Semantic Scholar*

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [John Patrick Rourke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Patrick_Rourke) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Patrick_Rourke?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.