Elinor Frances Vallentin (formerly Nichol; (née Bertrand)[1] (1873, Falkland Islands – 1924, Plympton, Devon)[2] was a British
botanist and
botanical illustrator who made scientifically significant collections of botany specimens in the
Falkland Islands. She co-authored the book Illustrations of the flowering plants and ferns of the Falkland Islands in 1921 with
Enid Mary Cotton, a fellow botanist. This work was regarded as being particularly valuable because of Vallentin's botanical illustrations. The standard
author abbreviationVallentin is used to indicate this person as the author when
citing a
botanical name.[3]
Plant collecting
Vallentin grew up at
Roy Cove and at Shallow Bay in
West Falkland.[4] While living there she collected and studied the plant life in the surrounding area.[5] From November 1909 to March 1911 she collected numerous specimens from various sites on West Falkland,[6] which are now held at the
British Museum,
Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and the
Manchester Museum. She also assembled collections of seaweeds that were particularly valuable scientifically. She collaborated with
Arthur Disbrowe Cotton, supplying him with specimens, and enabling him to undertake the first comprehensive study of
Cryptogams from the Falkland Islands.[5][7]
Vallentin also collaborated with botanist
Charles Henry Wright collecting plants for him, supplying him with field notes and illustrations,[8] as well as illustrating his scientific paper The Mosses and Hepaticae of West Falkland Islands, from the collections of Mrs. Elinor Vallentin published in the
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.[9]
In 1912 Vallentin presented her collection of some 930 plant specimens, collected in the West Falkland Islands, to Kew.[10]
Illustrations
As well as illustrating scientific papers, Vallentin co-wrote and illustrated the book Illustrations of the flowering plants and ferns of the Falkland Islands.[11]Cecil Victor Boley Marquand regarded Vallentin's drawings as being "beautiful".[10] Vallentin also exhibited her illustrations at the 73rd Exhibition of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society in 1912[12] as well as at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at the Falkland Islands Court.[13]
The
Manchester Museum holds some of the specimens Vallentin used to produce her coloured illustrations.[6]
^"DFB". falklandsbiographies.org. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
^
abProfessor Margaret Clayton (5 April 2003).
Falkland Islands Seaweed Survey(PDF) (Report). The Shackleton Scholarship Fund. p. 1. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
^"Book-Notes, News, &c". Journal of Botany, British and Foreign. 53: 38. 1915. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
^
abMarquand, C. V. B. (1923). "Additions to the Flora of the Falkland Islands". Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). 1923 (10): 369–371.
doi:
10.2307/4115417.
JSTOR4115417.