Pescott, Edward Edgar (1872 - 1954)
Mr. Pescot was born and educated in Geelong, and his first
occupation was that of teacher in the Victorian Education Department, in that locality.
Appointment to Orbost as a teacher stimulated his botanical interest, more particularly
in regard to the then little investigated East Gippsland flora and he is credited with several new locality records in that area.
He sent suites of specimens to Melbourne Herbarium while he was a school teacher at Orbost (from about 1900). These include valuable records of the 'jungles' (now practically gone) which once covered the fertile Snowy River flats.
In 1909 Mr. Pescott was appointed Principal of the Burnley School of Horticulture, and it was there that he was first able to
actually demonstrate and further the principles of utilising native
species for ornamental gardening and for large scale park and
reserve planting.
In 1914 he published 'Native Flowers of Victoria' with illustrations by Herbert Dickins.
In 1917 he was appointed 'Government Pomologist', which gave him a still wider opportunity of travelling over the state and, apart from actual pomological [fruit growing] work, this involved advisory and extension work on almost every branch of horticulture.
And so from then until his official retirement in 1937 he had,
and took, every opportunity to bring the merits of Australian
flora as decorative garden subjects, their use as shade trees, for
breakwinds and for erosion control, to the notice of municipal
bodies, farmers and the public generally.
He was in fact the first
lecturer on the subject of cultivating native plants; his lectures
beiing illustrated by a notable collection ot slides photographed
by himself, mainly in situ. His native flower photos were
frequently used as illustrations to his own and other writers'
books and articles.
In the early days ot broadcasting, Mr. Pescott gave about a hundred consecutive weekly talks on the native flora, which stimulated many enquiries and much correspondence. His official duties took him to many farms, and in a
number of cases he was able to induce land-owners to preserve
small areas of interesting native plants from the plough or fire-stick.
He contributed "Orchids of Victoria" in 9 parts to the Victorian Naturalist during 1926-27, thereby supplementing French's pioneer work in the same journal 40 years before. This time the treatment was enhanced by many photographic illustrations and the whole was republished in book form the next year (1928). The orchid flora of our State had attained the astonishing figure of 150 species! [in 1949].
Commemorated by Chiloglottis pescottiana Rogers.
Source: extracted from:
Willis, J.H. (1949) Botanical pioneers in Victoria-II. Victorian Naturalist 66:103-109.
Willis, J.H. (1949) Botanical pioneers in Victoria - III. Victorian Naturalist 66:123-128.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40960204
Hyam, G.M. Obituary in Vic. Nat. Vol.71, March 1955
Portrait Photo: Adler, M. (2024) 'Burnley Gardens - Their Design and the People who loved them.' Lothian, Melbourne.
Collecting localities for 'Pescott, E.E.' from AVH (2021)
Data from 453 specimens
