Helen Aston

Helen Isobel Aston (26 March 1934 – 17 March 2020 ) was an Australian botanist and ornithologist.

Biography Aston completed her Bachelor of Science in 1957 with majors in botany and zoology from the University of Melbourne.

Aston worked at the National Herbarium of Victoria from 1956 to 1991, where she became one of Australia's leading authorities on freshwater vascular plants. The National Herbarium of Victoria holds the majority of Aston's herbarium, almost 3,000 specimens, with duplicates distributed around Australian Herbaria including AD, BRI, CANB, HO, NE, NSW and PERTH.

Aston is probably best known for her book Aquatic Plants of Australia published in 1973 by Melbourne University Press.

Aston has represented Australian herbaria as the Australian Botanical Liaison Officer in 1974 with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom.

Aston edited the in-house journal, Muelleria, from 1977 to 1988.

Standard author abbreviation

Selected published names Limnophyton australiense Aston Triglochin alcockiae Aston Nymphoides triangularis Aston

See also :Category:Taxa named by Helen Isobel Aston and Australian Plant Name Index

Awards and honours In 1979, Aston was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria.

Selected publications Books Aquatic Plants of Australia (1973) A bird atlas of the Melbourne Region (1978)

Journal articles

Legacy The following plants have been named in her honour:

Genera Astonia S.W.L.Jacobs

Species Nymphoides astoniae M.D.Barrett & R.L.Barrett