Foreman, Donald Bruce (1945 - 2004)

Born on 27 May 1945 in Trangie, central New South Wales, died in Melbourne of pancreatic cancer on 9 March 2004.

Collections in MEL
Publications
Foreman in PNG

Don was born on May 27 1945 in Trangie, central New South Wales. He was the second eldest of four, with three sisters Elizabeth, Patricia and Jennifer. The family farmed a property ‘Corolbigne’ near Trangie until Don and Elizabeth were of secondary schooling age when the family moved nearer to Dubbo and farmed at ‘Fairfield’. Each of the children won scholarships to university. Don’s sisters attended The University of Sydney while Don was a student at the University of New England at Armidale. Don graduated in 1969 with majors in Botany and Zoology and in the same year took up a position as Forest Botanist at Lae, Papua New Guinea (see article by Barry Conn in this issue for details of Don’s time in New Guinea).

After leaving Papua New Guinea in 1975, Don returned to his alma mater, the University of New England (UNE), Armidale, to complete his MSc and take up employment as a tutor in the Botany Department. He and Joy took up residence on a 5 acre block near Uralla (later to move into Armidale itself). At UNE he was responsible for preparation of the dreaded first-year plant biology pracs, and delivered lectures on plant biology to first and second year students. He was also a teacher/assessor for external plant biology students. UNE was a pioneering institution in distance learning (probably even before the term was coined) and remains a leader in this field. In recognition of his teaching contribution to the department, Don was promoted to the position of lecturer in the Botany Department. As well as his teaching duties, he was instrumental in establishing the student herbarium within the Botany Department. These were fruitful, if busy years for Don and Joy – not only long days teaching and writing theses, there were domestic changes with two children, Maryanne and John born in 1977 and 1979 respectively.

After being awarded his MSc, Don embarked on a Ph.D., ‘The morphology and phylogeny of some Monimiaceae (sensu lato) in Australia’, which he successfully submitted in 1985. Toward the end of his writing up period, Don was offered two jobs in botanical institutions - one in Cairns, and one in Melbourne. Don’s wife Joy was a Colac (Victoria) girl, and this, coupled with perceived better prospects down south helped to swing the vote to take the Melbourne offer. In February 1984, Don joined the botanical staff at the National Herbarium of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. He and Joy moved to Lara (near Geelong) after being convinced that Melbourne was but a short train trip away. The proximity to the nearby Brisbane Ranges, to become one of his favourite botanising haunts, was another attraction. His duties at MEL were, apart from his ongoing Proteaceae and Monimiacae research, identification of Cannabis for the Victoria Police and general identifications for the public. During this time, Don showed what was to be a hallmark of the man - an unquestioning readiness to take on new tasks. He took on the tasks of design and editing the fledgling Flora of Victoria, a project initially championed by Barry Conn before his defection to Sydney. This was also a time where far-sighted folk were beginning to acknowledge the potential of computer technology, when ‘portable’ disks were the size of LP vinyl records, and printers were not much faster than efficient handwriting. Don accepted the task of instigating and developing a computer databasing system for the herbarium collection, long before the AVH seed had produced its first epicotyl. At the same time, he quietly undertook the editing of the house journal Muelleria. Contributors to the volume, particularly taxonomic ingénues (I readily put my hand up here), vividly recall Don’s tireless assistance in bringing sometimes pretty feral manuscripts into an acceptable format, and organising the preparation of illustrations and maps that brought to the author’s submissions a sometimes generous air of professionalism.

This was a period of upheaval at MEL, with many staff and nearly all the collections having to relocate while substantial remodelling of and additions to the herbarium building were underway. This involved the movement of hundreds of cubic metres of specimens to temporary lodgings, construction and destruction of temporary shelving and keeping tabs on where everything was. Helen Aston guided and recorded the movement of every individual bundle of specimens, and created a system whereby mounted and unmounted Australian and foreign collections, kept apart for many decades, could be merged into a much more useful arrangement. Other staff were often called upon to lend muscle power in moving specimens and cupboards. None attacked these tasks more avidly than Don, and many times Don’s grey Holden ute and his well-used handsaw were commissioned to move, build and destroy. Many lunchtime barbecues were enjoyed burning the many offcuts from the temporary shelving in now nearly forgotten structures known locally, if not affectionately as the ‘T shed’ and the ‘Rat hut’ (both named for good reason). The new Herbarium was officially opened in 1988, although things weren’t back to anything like normal until well into the following year.

In the mid-nineties, responding to the whiff of corporate dynamics that permeated the air, the herbarium underwent significant structural change. Don took the position of Collections Manager in July 1994, where he continued in his Muelleria editorship and Proteaceae taxonomic work, but added to his quiver the arrows of responsibility for curation of the approximately 1.2 million MEL specimens, a large part of which task involved further development of the database. A close working relationship with our first (and now senior) databaser Joan Thomas, and curation staff member Cathryn Coles, created a team that allowed the potential of a completely databased collection to be glimpsed. During this time too, the introduction of fees for plant identification (another domain of Don’s responsibility) was introduced without the walls of the bastille being rent asunder. A flood in the library, brought about by some dubious architectural modifications, threatened many irreplaceable volumes. The ankle-deep slosh on the floor called for a near-nautical ‘all hands on deck’ and inspired the preparation of an emergency plan, the likes of which the herbarium until then had never considered. With Librarian, Helen Cohn and Chief Botanist, Jim Ross, Don took this task in his stride and soon a series of handsome ‘wheely-bin’ emergency units, and associated instructions, designed to cope with almost anything from delivery of WMD to premature infants, appeared strategically throughout the building.

In all of his duties Don had extraordinary unflappable patience in the face of taxonomic, technological and human adversity, and a zeal for assisting others. This is an attribute that, perhaps above all others, colleagues and visitors to MEL will associate with Don. It is this trait that rendered him of value as Australian Botanical Liaison Officer (ABLO) at Kew, a position he filled from September 1996 to August 1997. Don’s records show more than 260 enquiries from Australian and New Zealand botanists were fielded during this period, forty-two major enquiries dealt with for Kew staff, twenty-nine visiting botanists hosted, further works on Proteaceae, Monimiaceae and families for the Flora of Victoria completed. After completing his stint at Kew, Don worked with Susanne Renner at the University of Missouri, St Louis, attempting to use DNA evidence from Atherospermataceae to time major disjunction events. This work was published in 2000.

Don’s association with MEL finished on returning to Melbourne in December 1997. During 1998 and 1999 he and Joy upped stumps and moved to Canberra where Don worked as an editor on the Flora of Australia project, assisting with the Poaceae volumes 43 and 44, and the second edition of the introductory volume 1.

Don was always a very keen gardener. The tea-table at MEL had frequently borne offerings from the Foreman’s bounteous vegie patch, and the quality of Don’s weekend often seemed to be measured in cubic metres of soil or compost moved in the home garden. After returning from Canberra at the end of 1999, he and Joy decided to branch out and develop a gardening and maintenance business around his home patch in Lara. Both obtained certificates to operate as a franchise with the Yates company. Although the parent company collapsed in the following year, Don and Joy had established an eager clientele who continued to demand their obviously professional and competent services. Further to their tending gardens, the couple were soon also tending grandchildren with the birth of Maryanne’s children, Lachlan and Sarah in 2001 and 2002. Don’s devotion to the grandchildren was legendary within the family and among friends. Soon too their son John was lending a hand with the business (which he continues) and Don, wishing to further his skills embarked on a Diploma of Horticulture course at a Melbourne TAFE college in 2003. It was there that one of Don’s lecturers was John Arnott, Curator of the Geelong Botanic Garden. John and Don quickly developed a relationship of mutual respect and Don began an enjoyable association with Geelong Garden as ‘occasional botanist in residence’ from early 2003. Don commenced a systematic program to have all plants in the gardens accurately identified and logged into a cadastral database. In a eulogy at Don’s funeral, John commented that in the Garden’s 152 years history, Don was the first ‘proper’ botanist who had been on the staff. Don was much admired and deeply involved with activities with other staff, Friends of the gardens, voluntary guides and visiting groups. Within this period, Don began some more Flora of Australia editing work, assisting with contributions to the Poacaeae volumes. It was doubly tragic then that Don’s re-emergence into taxonomic pursuits on two fronts should be halted by sickness. Don was reluctant to acknowledge his condition, but in late January was hospitalised and in February was diagnosed with a very aggressive pancreatic cancer. He was not to leave hospital and died on March 9.

Don’s gentle and genuine qualities were admired by all who knew him. It was a privilege to have collaborated with him on the Flora of Victoria project, and always enjoyable to spend time in the field where he never failed to bring a pearl of tropical wisdom to my thoroughly temperate botanical repertoire. While visiting MEL only occasionally from 1997, he was a welcome presence and his passing was deeply felt by all his former colleagues here.

Acknowledgment

I am grateful to Joy Foreman for filling in some detail used in this article.

Source: Neville Walsh, National Herbarium of Victoria, ASBS Newsletter No.119, June 2004
Portrait Photo: M.Fagg 1998

Don Foreman’s collections during his employment at the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL)

Don collected widely in Australia, but areas rich in Proteaceae and Laurales, e.g. south-west Western Australia and north Queensland, were a major focus. His last collections at MEL are from the 1996 Mueller Commemorative Expedition to northwestern Australia, a collaborative expedition involving staff from DNA, MEL and NT. MEL holds a total of 1888 of Don’s collections. His earlier collections are housed at NE, e.g. those in 1977 from Gibraltar Range and Lismore area NSW; in 1981 from Atherton area Qld; and in 1982 from North Coast and Northern Tablelands, NSW. Some of these are unnumbered. Duplicates of Don’s collections were distributed to A, AD, BRI, CHR, DNA, K, HO, MO, NY, PERTH, QRS, RSA, WAU, WELTU.

There are some gaps in the numbering of specimens during his time at MEL. From collecting books it appears that collections for some of these numbers were discarded, but there are others (e.g. DBF 1740-1769, DBF 1965-2100) for which there is no obvious reason.

Publications

Foreman, D.B. (1971). A checklist of the vascular plants of Bougainville with descriptions of some common forest trees. Botany Bulletin 5, Dept of Forests, Lae, PNG.

Foreman, D.B. (1972). ‘Timber, commercial species’, in Encyclopaedia of Papua New Guinea ed. P. Ryan, Melbourne University Press/University of Papua New Guinea, pp. 1124-1131.

Foreman, D.B. (1974). ‘Notes on Myristica Gronov. (Myristicaceae) from Papuasia’, Contrib. Herb. Austral-iense. 9: 35-44.

Foreman, D.B. (1976). ‘A nut tree from New Guinea - Finschia’, West Australian Nut Growing Yearbook pp. 26-31.

Foreman, D.B. (1976). A taxonomic study of the genus Helicia Lour. (Proteaceae) in New Guinea and Australia with notes on origin, distribution and ecology. MSc thesis, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales.

Foreman, D.B. (1977). ‘Notes on Basisperma lanceolata C.T. White (Myrtaceae)’, Brunonia 1: 95-101.

Foreman, D.B. (1978). ‘Myristicaceae’ in Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea, ed. J.S. Womersley, vol. 1: 175-215. Melbourne University Press.

Foreman, D.B. (1978). ‘Corynocarpaceae’ in Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea, ed. J.S. Womersley, vol. 1: 111-113. Melbourne University Press.

Foreman, D.B. (1981) Embryological and anatomical studies in the Monimiaceae/Atherospermataceae and their position in a putatively phylogenetic classification. In XIII International Botanical Congress, Sydney, Australia 21 - 28 August 1981: Abstracts. Sydney, Australian Academy of Science. 283.

Foreman, D.B. (1983). ‘A review of the genus Helicia in Australia’, Brunonia 6: 59-72.

Foreman, D.B. (1985). ‘Seven new species of Helicia Lour. (Proteaceae) from Papua New Guinea’, Muelleria 6: 79-91.

Foreman, D.B. (1985). ‘The Helicia genus’, Australian Plants 13: 226-230.

Foreman, D.B. (1986). ‘A new species of Helicia, new combination and lecotypification in Triunia (Proteaceae) from Australia’, Muelleria 6: 193-196.

Foreman, D.B. (1987). ‘New species of Xylomelum Sm. and Triunia Johnson & Briggs (Proteaceae)’ Muelleria 6: 299-305.

Foreman, D.B. (1988). ‘Wood anatomy of Idiospermum australiense (Diels) S.T. Blake’, Proc. Ecologicial Soc. of Australia 15: 281.

Foreman, D.B. (1988). ‘Notes from the National Herbarium of Victoria - 7: Studies in Isopogon and Petrophile (Proteaceae)’, Vict. Naturalist 105: 74-80.

Foreman, D.B. (1990). ‘New species of Petrophile R. Br. (Proteaceae) from Western Australia’, Muelleria 7: 301-310.

Foreman, D.B. (1990). Contributions on Flora conservation, Proteaceae, Rainforests and Flora and Vegetation, in The Penguin Australian Encyclopedia, ed. S. Dawson, O’Neil Publishing.

Foreman, D.B. (1995). ‘Proteaceae’ in Handbooks to the Flora of Papua New Guinea, vol. 3, ed. B.J. Conn, pp. 221-270. Melbourne University Press, Carlton.

Foreman, D.B. (1995). ‘Petrophile (Proteaceae)’, Flora of Australia, vol. 16, pp. 149-193. CSIRO publishing, Melbourne.

Foreman, D.B. (1995). ‘Isopogon (Proteaceae)’, Flora of Australia, vol. 16, pp. 194-223. CSIRO publishing, Melbourne.

Foreman, D.B. (1995). ‘Stenocarpus (Proteaceae)’, Flora of Australia, vol. 16, pp. 363-369. CSIRO publishing, Melbourne.

Foreman, D.B. (1995). ‘Opisthiolepis (Proteaceae)’, Flora of Australia, vol. 16, pp. 373-374. CSIRO publishing, Melbourne.

Foreman, D.B. (1995). ‘Helicia (Proteaceae)’, Flora of Australia, vol. 16, pp. 393-399. CSIRO publishing, Melbourne.

Foreman, D.B. (1995). ‘Xylomelum (Proteaceae)’, Flora of Australia, vol. 16, pp. 399-403. CSIRO publishing, Melbourne.

Foreman, D.B. (1995). ‘Triunia (Proteaceae)’, Flora of Australia, vol. 16, pp. 404-407. CSIRO publishing, Melbourne.

Foreman, D.B. (1995). ‘Floydia (Proteaceae)’, Flora of Australia, vol. 16, pp. 417-419. CSIRO publishing, Melbourne.

Foreman, D.B. (1996). ‘Petrophile, Conesticks’, Australian Plants, vol. 19, no 149, pp. 6-29 & 32.

Foreman, D.B. (1996). ‘Isopogon, Drumsticks’, Australian Plants, vol. 19, no 150, pp. 62-78.

Foreman, D.B. (1997). ‘Monimiaceae’ in Flora of Victoria vol. 3, eds N.G. Walsh & T.J. Entwisle, pp. 25, 26. Inkata Press, Melbourne.

Foreman, D.B. (1997). ‘Eupomatiaceae’ in Flora of Victoria vol. 3, eds N.G. Walsh & T.J. Entwisle, pp. 23, 24. Inkata Press, Melbourne.

Foreman,D.B. (1998). New species of Helicia Lour. (Proteaceae) from the Vogelkop Peninsula, Irian Jaya. Kew Bull. 53: 672-674.

Foreman,D. (1998) A personal tribute to Emeritus Professor Noel Charles William Beadle, 20th December 1914 to 13th October 1998. Austral. Syst. Bot. Soc. Nsltr. 97: 24-25.

Foreman, D.B. & Sampson, F.B. (1987). ‘Pollen morphology of Palmeria scandens and Wilkiea huegeliana (Monimiaceae)’, Grana 26: 127-133.

Foreman, D.B. & Hyland, B.P.M. (1988). ‘New species of Buckinghamia F. Muell. and Stenocarpus R. Br. (Proteaceae) from northern Queensland’, Muelleria 6: 417-424.

Foreman, D.B. & Walsh, N.G. eds (1993). Flora of Victoria, vol. 1, Introduction, Inkata Press, Melbourne, pp. 1-320.

Foreman, D.B., Cohn, H. & Ross, J.H. (1994). Emergency procedure manual for the State Botanical Collection, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, internal document.

Foreman, D.B. & Hyland, B.P.M. (1995). ‘Buckinghamia (Proteaceae)’, Flora of Australia, vol. 16, pp. 371-374. CSIRO publishing, Melbourne.

Prakash, N., Foreman, D.B. & Griffiths, S.J. (1984). ‘Floral morphology and gametogenesis in Golbulimima belgraveana (Himantandraceae)’, Aust. J. Bot. 32: 605-612.

Renner, S. S., Foreman, D.B. & Murray, D. (2000). ‘Timing transarctic disjunctions in the Atherospermataceae (Laurales): evidence from coding and noncoding chloroplast sequences’, Systematic Biology 49: 579-591.

Sampson, F.B. & Foreman, D.B. (1988). ‘Pollen morphology of Atherosperma, Daphnandra and Doryphora (Atherospermatacae [Monimiaceae])’, Grana 27: 17-25.

Sampson, F.B. & Foreman, D.B. (1990). ‘Pollen morphology of Peumus boldus (Monimiaceae) - a comparison with Palmeria scandens’, Grana 29: 197-206.

Source: Neville Walsh, National Herbarium of Victoria, ASBS Newsletter No.119, June 2004

Donald Bruce Foreman in Papua New Guinea (1969-1975)

By: Barry J. Conn, National Herbarium of New South Wales

As a 23 year old, Don arrived in Papua New Guinea on 20 May 1969 to take up duty as Botanist Class 1 at Forest Botany (at the Lae Herbarium, later to be known as the Papua New Guinea National Herbarium, LAE), Office of Forests. Like so many before him and after, he was initially accommodated at TransAir Lodge (later Air Niugini Lodge, now the Lae International Hotel) from 20–27 May 1969 while more permanent accommodation was finalized. Don’s initial salary was $1,950, plus an overseas allowance of $1,744 and A.T.S. allowance of $71.00, a sum that now appears to be a very modest total of $3,765. On the 28 May, the day after his 24^th birthday, Don was provided a room in a three bedroom house in the Markham Estate at a rental of $10.43 per fortnight. For those of us who were in PNG during this period, or soon after, will have a major flash-back to be reminded that he was issued with a single Duralium bed, dressing table and stools, a 9 cubic foot refrigerator, sideboard, plus dining table, chairs and lounge chair, all in glorious Duralium! Total value $420.70. Like many others, Don’s accommodation problems continued, with him requesting a transfer to another residence on the 5 June.

Don’s work program over the first 12 months typifies John Womersley’s (then Assistant Director) policy of maximizing staff exposure to field botany. From 5-7 June 1969, Don collected in the Bulolo, Mt Kiandi, Edie Creek region (Morobe province), with Mark Coode and Andrew Kanis); 20 June–4 July he collected in the Frieda River area (West Sepik province)(with a travelling allowance of $1.75 per day); 16-18 July Mumeng, Mt Kaindi and Wau (Morobe province); 21–27 July Mt Albert Edward (Central province), via Woitape. The Papua New Guinean guides were paid 10c per hour to assist the LAE expedition to the top of Mt Albert Edward. Eleven days later (7 August) he found himself on his first trip to Bougainville, where he collected until 8 September. On the 21st September he visited Open Bay, on the north coast of New Britain, on board the government trawler "Andrewa", before heading back to Bougainville (29 September–14 October; 27 October–8 November Ok Tedi (Western province). The pace continued, leaving little time to adequately process the herbarium collections obtained, from 17–22 December visiting Kassam Pass (Eastern Highlands province), via Dumpu and Amiaba River (camping allowance $1.05 per day); 30 December collecting at Busu (Morobe province). The new year continued the same way as the last ended; 6–16 January 1970 returning to Dumpu and Amiaba; 23–27 January to Mt Otto and Goroka (Eastern Highlands province); 3–6 February Aiyura and Kassam Pass (Eastern Highlands province); 12–17 February Mendik and Arigenang; 9 March–14 April Kilifas (West Sepik province) as part of a combined expedition with the Natural History (BM). In the midst of this, Don’s appointment was confirmed (25 March 1970).

During this frenzied botanical activity, Don’s personal life was quietly developing, first indicated in the official records by his request (25 May 1970) for married accommodation. He took local leave from 2–27 July to marry Lorraine Joyce (Joy) Shaw (Swan Marsh, Victoria) on the 11^th July 1970. On their return, they moved into 761 Drayton Street, Lae, with four wooden lounge chairs, with cushion – no Duralium for married couples! Married life was to continue to improve, probably because of Joy’s influence; a water heater for the kitchen sink was requested. It seems strange now, but most residences did not have flowing hot water. Even in 1979, like many others, our home in Bulolo (Morobe province) did not have hot water in the kitchen. Returning to Don’s request for a water heater, he was informed by no less than the District Commissioner that "Minor New Works funds do not run to the supply of sink heaters" – truly a luxury item, unnecessary in the tropics! However, the installation of security screening on the main bedroom was approved.

Professor Noel C.W. Beadle (University of New England) suggested that Don could undertake a research-based post-graduate M.Sc. thesis (23 January 1970) through the UNE. John Womersley agreed to act as co-supervisor (2 February) and to assist in the development of a suitable research program. It was during August 1970 that discussions with Professor Noel C.W. Beadle started about the planning of Don’s preliminary M.Sc. program, with John Williams proposed as a suitable supervisor.

By 1 August, John Womersley must have decided that Don and Joy had had enough of being newly weds, as we find Don off to Mt Albert Edward and Murray Pass to act as a tour guide for an ANZAAS tour group (1–12 August 1970). This tour was part of the 42^nd Congress of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science which was held in Port Moresby. Bob Johns also acted a tour guide for this Congress.

With the Congress out of the way, Don concentrated on processing his numerous herbarium collections from mid August 1970–17 March 1971. From 18 March–27 May, Joy and Don took their first recreational leave from duty in PNG, visiting friends and relatives in New South Wales and Victoria. He was issued a new two-year employment contract (5 April 1971), effective from the 20^th May 1971 ($5,752 per annum). Up until this time, Joy had been working with Posts and Telegraphs in Lae, resigning on 23 July 1971.

It was in July 1971 that Don started his taxonomic review of the Myristicaceae, particularly Horsfieldia.

Don undertook a M.Sc. preliminary examination at the Institute of Technology, Lae (13 August 1971) before leaving for field work in the Kiunga area (Western Province) from 16–27 August. On his return to Lae, he concentrated on his Myristicaceae work, it being his primary research effort until early June 1972. Occasional references to the preparation of a ‘Myristicaceae Technical paper’ (first mentioned 1 February 1972) appear in his monthly diary during 1972. He completed this manuscript on 23 November 1972, in what appears to be his paper on Myristica (Foreman 1974). He completed his manuscript of the Myristicaceae for the Handbooks series on 1 December 1972 (Foreman 1978).

On 24 November 1971, Don started a preliminary review of the Proteaceae as part of developing a suitable M.Sc. research project. He was officially enrolled in the Degree with his candidature to commence from 4 January 1972, with the first Proteaceae loan material arriving in July 1972. He began to focus his research program on the taxonomy of Helicia (Proteaceae) from 12 December of that year.

On the 29^th November 1971, Don began his compilation of the Bougainville species checklist, which was finally published 1972 (Foreman 1971, 1972).

Very little field work was undertaken during much of the first half of 1972, visiting the Mt Hagen area (Western Highlands Province) (15-18 March); Buso (Morobe Province) with Greg Leach and Heinar Streimann (27 April–1 May); Goroka (Eastern Highlands Province)(31 May–1 June) – presumably to collect Peter Stevens and Jan-Fritz Veldkamp. The first major expedition for the year was to Sulu, Open Bay, Powell Harbour (New Britain)(12 June–4 July 1972); soon followed by a visit to Mt Ialibu and Mt Giluwe (Southern Highlands Province)(9–20 August); Kainantu area (Eastern Highlands Province)(16–18 October) to collect Myristica womersleyi; and finally Morehead area (Western Province)(6–17 November). While compiling this summary of his botanical field trips it reminded me of the time that Don told me that he actually spent more time (sometimes days) waiting beside airstrips for aeroplanes that did not arrive, when scheduled, compared to the amount of time he spent collecting plants!

Throughout much of the 1970s, there was an increasing emphasis on the Australian government’s directive that there must be a reduction of the expatriate component of staff by 15% per annum. Early on in this program (from about January 1973), the ‘on-ground’ staff thought that this reduction would be achieved by ‘normal wastage’ by resignation, retirement and voluntary non-renewal of contracts by individuals. However, everyone was aware that as ‘localisation’ occurred, the replacement of expatriate staff with Papua New Guinean nationals might necessitate the termination of the services of a number of expatriate staff. The Australian Caretaker Government expected some expatriates to leave before Self-Government (1973) or before Independence (1975), but every encouragement was to be given so that many could remain in service as long as they were required by the Papua New Guinea government. These were uncertain times for all expatriates. However, Don and Joy continued on in PNG, Don’s contract being extended for another two years, until 20 May 1975.

I first met Don and Joy in August 1974, when I arrived in Lae (Conn 1991), with my wife Helen and daughter Lori. Many of our social gatherings included both of them as very welcomed guests. Although Don and Joy did not have any children while in PNG, Joy gave Don a book on how to mix cocktail drinks for Father’s Day! By the time Helen, Lori and I arrived for an afternoon barbeque at the Foreman’s, they were both very relaxed and relatively incapable of preparing food for us.

I have in the past acknowledged the considerable professional assistance and friendship that Don provided me when I first arrived in Lae (Conn 1991). His willingness to share his knowledge and practical experience provided me with a framework in which I was able to develop my career in botanical systematics. I was fortunate to have the opportunity of working once again with Don at the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL) during the 1980s.

Don was one of the few expatriates who was fortunate to be given the opportunity of working with one of the most diverse and challenging floras, in an extremely rugged demanding country, with Papua New Guineans who so generously and openly welcomed a group of very inexperienced white guys. Botanically, it was an extremely important period in Papua New Guinea.

All of us who worked with Don are richer for that experience.

References

Barker B. (1975) Papua New Guinea Botanical Society. Austral.Syst.Bot.Soc.Nsltr 5: 17-18.

Conn, B.J. (1991) ASBS Member Profile: Barry Conn A.S.B.S. Secretary. Austral.Syst.Bot.Soc.Nsltr. 67: 30-33.

Foreman, D.B. (1971, dated November). A checklist of the vascular plants of Bougainville with descriptions of some common forest trees. Botany Bulletin 5, Dept of Forests, Lae, PNG. (April 1972, dated March). Addenda and Corrigenda (Govt Printer Port Moresby).

Foreman, D.B. (1974). ‘Notes on Myristica Gronov. (Myristicaceae) from Papuasia’, Contrib. Herb. Australiense. 9: 35-44.

Foreman, D.B. (1978). ‘Myristicaceae’ in Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea, ed. J.S. Womersley, vol. 1: 175-215. Melbourne University Press.

Foreman, D.B. (1998) New species of Helicia Lour. (Proteaceae) from the Vogelkop Peninsula, Irian Jaya.. Kew Bulletin 53(3): 672-674.

Source: Barry J. Conn, National Herbarium of New South Wales

Collecting localities for 'Foreman, D.B.' from AVH (2021)

Data from 6,586 specimens