I read Rusi Sorabji’s comments in "Eminent botanists" (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, August 7, 2018) regarding the omission of Prof Rustamji Asana’s name.
He is mixing up the term "botanist" with other disciplines of plant sciences, such as plant physiology, plant breeding, plant pathology, etc. Even though Asana was a plant pathologist, his name deserves inclusion.
In fact, in my humble opinion, Dr Jehangir F. Dastur (pictured), who wrote books Medicinal Plants of India and Pakistan and Useful Plants of India and Pakistan (published by Taraporevala and Company, Bombay) merits greater inclusion in the list. He was born in 1886 in Bhavnagar and died in 1952 in Bombay. Both his books are in my personal library and I often refer to them.
ARDESHIR B. DAMANIA
California, USA
abdamania@ucdavis.edu
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