Raleigh Black

Raleigh Adelbert Black (11 March 1880 – 2 July 1963 ) was an Australian botanist and public servant best known for his large private herbarium, most of which is housed at the National Herbarium of Victoria. His collection of Tasmanian plants is considered one of the largest and most representative collections of Tasmanian flora from the first half of the twentieth century.

Early life Black was born in Bothwell, Tasmania, the son of Rev. Dr Joseph Black who was an immigrant from Aberdeen, Scotland. Raleigh fell from a swing as a young child and suffered a head injury. After this, while physically strong, he complained of headaches. He was rebellious and difficult to handle at home and school so his parents took him to a doctor, who suggested he would be better suited to work than school. At the age of twelve, Black began working for the Tasmanian News as a printer's devil, then bookbinder and eventually as a typesetter. to investigate the prevalence of San Jose scale in Tasmanian orchards. He travelled for three months surveying every orchard in Tasmania and then he was given a permanent position with the Tasmanian Council of Agriculture, now known as the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment.

Syntype of Carex raleighii Nelmes (MEL 1580321), collected by R.A. Black at Cobungra, Victoria.

Botanical career Around 1900, Black sought to improve his knowledge of Tasmanian Flora and requested the guidance of government botanist Leonard Rodway. Rodway agreed and was glad to teach him everything he knew, and Black was a dedicated student.

Black was an original member, treasurer and later vice-president of the Tasmanian Field Naturalist’s Club.

He moved to Sydney in 1926 and worked for Christian Bjelke-Petersen at the Bjelke-Petersen School of Physical Culture and then moved to Melbourne in 1931 during the depression. In Melbourne he worked for a chemical company distributing fertilisers around north-eastern Victoria and the Upper Murray region of New South Wales, which provided another valuable opportunity to collect plants. These collections proved valuable and many of the specimens he collected were new to science.

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Legacy R. A. Black Herbarium In 1952 Raleigh A. Black estimated his herbarium included approximately 15,000 specimens, with around 9,000 numbered sheets and about 6,000 duplicates. The collection is systematically organised, with diligently recorded information on handwritten labels, and unique reference numbers for every collection object relating to a card catalogue to easily find species.

Also included in the R.A. Black herbarium are specimens exchanged with botanists and collectors from elsewhere in Australia and the world, including Stanley Thatcher Blake (Queensland), Bernard Boivin (Canada), Agnes Chase (U.S.A.), Rev. G. Holmes (Kimberley), and Charles Edward Hubbard (U.K.). is a rare hybrid of Eucalyptus dives Schauer and Eucalyptus radiata Sieber ex DC. described by Black in The Victorian Naturalist, from a specimen he collected near Mansfield. Black collected a specimen near Mount Hotham that was designated the type of Carex raleighii Nelmes and the species was named in his honour.