John E. Braggins

John E. Braggins (9 August 1944 – 1 October 2025) was a New Zealand botanist and bryologist, known for his research into ferns and liverworts. Braggins lectured at the University of Auckland from 1969 until 2000, during which time he supervised and mentored a significant number of New Zealand botanists. During Braggins' career, he took part in the identification of 12 species and one suborder, many of which are endemic New Zealand liverworts.

Life and career Braggins' 1975 PhD focused on the fern genus Pteris, in which he recognised Pteris carsei (pictured) was distinct from Pteris comans. This was formally described 45 years later in 2020.

Braggins was born in Wellington on 9 August 1944. He was adopted by Edward George Braggins and Sarah Braggins, who moved to Dannevirke, where he spent much of his childhood. For his first year of high school, the family moved back to Wellington, where Braggins attended Rongotai College. At university, Braggins was an active part of the Victoria University biological society, and attended field trips organised by the Wellington Botanical Society. and was a supervisor and lecturer for biologists such as Elizabeth Brown, Peter de Lange, Matt Renner, Matt von Konrat, Dan Blanchon and Mark F. Large,

Braggins developed an interest for hornworts and liverworts during his university studies, which led to him making major contributions to the knowledge of New Zealand endemic liverworts, including making descriptions for nine liverwort species, and contributing to Engel & Glenny's Flora of the Liverworts and Hornworts of New Zealand. and helped in the identification of five species of Frullania liverworts between 2003 and 2011.

In 2020, Braggins collaborated on a paper which established Pteris carsei as a distinct species separate from Pteris comans; something that Braggins had originally recognised in his 1975 PhD. Braggins died on 1 October 2025, at the age of 81.

Legacy In 1999, Braggins received the Borg-Warner Robert O. Bass Visiting Scientist award by the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Braggins received the Allan Mere Award, the premier award given by the New Zealand Botanical Society, in 2013. In 2024, Braggins became an Associate Emeritus of Auckland War Memorial Museum, in recognition for his contributions to plant taxonomy, education and dedication to botany.

Two species have been named after Braggins: the monotypic liverwort Bragginsella anomala in 1997,

Taxa identified by Braggins

Frullania colliculosa Libertia edgariae Myliineae Ramalina erumpens var. norstictica Zoopsis nitida

Selected bibliography