Douglas Gilfillan

Douglas Flemmer Gilfillan (1865–1948) was a South African lawyer and plant collector.

Biography

Gilfillan went to school in Cradock, Eastern Cape, where his father Edward practised as a solicitor. After serving as an articled clerk in the Cape Town law firm of Reid & Nephew, he was admitted as a solicitor and notary to the Supreme Court of the Cape Colony. When the Boer War ended Gilfillan was appointed a member of the special criminal court for Johannesburg and acting magistrate for Boksburg and Germiston.

Gilfillan collected over 500 botanical specimens. These were collected in the areas around Johannesburg (1898- 1899), Middelburg, Eastern Cape (1899), Heidelberg, Gauteng and Witbank (1905). Gilfillan sent his specimens to Galpin, who incorporated them in his herbarium under Gilfillan's name. Galpin's herbarium later formed the nucleus of the government herbarium in Pretoria.

Commemoration

The following plant species were named in his honour: Canthium gilfillanii, Zygophyllum gilfillanii, Europs gilfillanii.

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