Alma Theodora Lee

Alma Theodora Lee (née Melvaine; 12 April 1912 — 20 October 1990) was an Australian botanist and plant taxonomist who worked at the National Herbarium of New South Wales, University of Sydney, and CSIRO. She described over 40 species. The March 1991 issue of the journal Telopea was dedicated to her memory. Personal Born in Tingha, a small town in northern New South Wales, to Walter Melvaine, a gold prospector and dredge operator. Valuing an education, the family moved to Sydney for Alma to attend Ascham School in Edgecliff where she attended from 1920 to 1930.

Lee lived in Sydney’s outer suburb of Hornsby for much of her life with the bushland and plants nearby. In her last years, she lived at Bayview. During this time, Lee broadened her interest and knowledge of plant communities with fellow students on excursions to Bulli, Colong Caves and Barrington Tops.

While a student, Lee joined the National Herbarium of New South Wales, then part of the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney.

Lee spent a year at the Plant Introduction Section of CSIR (later renamed CSIRO) in Canberra, where she recommended the creation of a herbarium, which was realised by Nancy Tyson Burbidge and later renamed as the Australian National Herbarium.

Lee returned to the National Herbarium of New South Wales in 1938 as staff botanist until 1947 when she left to raise her two sons. In the early 1960s, Lee returned part-time to the Herbarium in Sydney. In 1982, she took on a role as an Honorary Research Associate until 1986.

Taxa described by Lee