Eve Palmer

Evelyn Mary "Eve" Palmer (20 February 1916 – 1998) was a South African writer and botanist. She was married to the South African journalist and adventure novelist Geoffrey Jenkins. Her best known work is her bestselling

Life and career

Palmer was born in the Karoo Desert of South Africa to Clifford George Palmer - a rancher - and Kate (née Uglig) Palmer.

Palmer studied journalism at the University College, London

Palmer also reported for The Rhodesia Herald and Pretoria News. She then edited the earliest issues of the Veldtrust, a conservationist magazine and the official publication of the National Veld Trust. Palmer was a member of the Royal Society of South Africa, National Veld Trust, Botanical Society of South Africa, Wild Life Society, Royal Horticultural Society, and the Rose Society. remains The Plains of Camdeboo, which she published in 1966. It is about Cranemere farm where five generations of her family have lived. The book traces the region's history from "dinosaurs and early hominids to trekkers and sheep farmers", The book was an almost instant bestseller and remains in print. Trees of South Africa (1961), with Norah Pitman The Plains of Camdeboo (1966) Trees of Southern Africa (1972), with Norah Pitman, illustrated by Rhona Collett, photographs by Geoffrey Jenkins et al. (3 vols.; a revised version of the 1961 work Trees of South Africa) A Field Guide to the Trees of Southern Africa (1972, reissued in 1977), illustrated by Rhona Collett The Companion Guide to South Africa (1978), with Geoffrey Jenkins The South African Herbal (1985), illustrated by Brenda Clarke Under the Olive: A Book of Garden Pleasures (1989), illustrated by Brenda Clarke Return to Camdeboo: A Century's Karoo Foods and Flavours (1992), illustrated by Brenda Clarke A Gardener's Year (1995) Journalism Journey to Pretoria in 1878: Diary of Mrs. Bousfield, wife of the City's first bishop (c.1975)

Awards 1978: the South African Botanical Society honoured her with the Bolus Medal for her "outstanding" works on indigenous trees 1986: the Recht Malan Prize, for The South African Herbal