Oleg Polunin

Oleg Polunin Vladimirovitch ( Олег Владимирович Полунин; * November 1914 in Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom, † July 1985 in Godalming, Surrey, United Kingdom) was an English botanist and professor.

Polunin was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford. Later he taught for 30 years at the Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey. He devoted his time to the writing of popular field guides for plants of Europe and the Himalayas. His best-known books: " Flowers of Europe ", " Flowers of the Mediterranean " and " Trees and Bushes of Europe" were translated into German and reprinted several times. Polunin undertook many journeys in search of plants. He was one of the first who used photographs for his books and discovered several plant species. In 1983, the HH Bloomer Award ( for amateur sleuths ) of the Linnean Society of London.

Family

His two brothers were scientists:

• Nicholas Polunin (1909-1997) was an explorer of the Arctic and an environmental activist
• Ivan Polunin (1920-2010) was a physician, photographer and ethnographer.

Selected Works

• Flowers of the Mediterranean ( Chatto & Windus, 1967) - Flowers on the Mediterranean, BLV, Munich 1970
• Flowers of Europe: a field guide (Oxford University Press, 1969) - Plants in Europe, BLV, Munich 1971
• A Concise Flowers of Europe ( Oxford University Press, 1972)
• Flowers of South West Europe (Oxford University Press, 1973, ISBN 0-19-217625-0 )
• Trees and Bushes of Europe ( Oxford University Press, 1976) - Trees and shrubs of Europe, BLV, Munich, etc. 1977
• Flowers of Greece and the Balkans ( Oxford University Press, 1980, ISBN 0-19-217626-9 )
• Flowers of the Himalayas ( Oxford University Press, 1985)
• A Guide to the Vegetation of Britain and Europe (Oxford University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-19-217713-3 )
• Flowers of the Himalayas Concise (Oxford University Press, 1987)
• Collins Photo Guide to Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe ( Collins, 1988, ISBN 0-00-219709- X)