Dorothy G. Downie

Dorothy G. Downie (1894–1960) was a Scottish botanist and forester. She is known for her research on the fungal symbionts and nutritional requirements of orchids.^[1][2][3][4]

Dorothy G. Downie graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1917 with a B.S. in science and in 1919 with a B.S. in forestry. She was the first woman to receive a degree in forestry from the University of Edinburgh.^[1] From 1919 to 1920 she studied at Moray House Training College, where she qualified in professional training for teachers.^[5] From 1920 to 1925 she worked at the University of Aberdeen as an assistant to William Grant Craib.^[1]

In 1925 she received a Carnegie scholarship and became a graduate student at the University of Chicago. There she received in 1928 a PhD in botany with a dissertation on the morphology of the male gametophyte of Microcycas calocoma. In 1927 she went to Cuba, where she collected cycads by riding on horseback through the Cordillera de Guaniguanico.^[5]

At the University of Aberdeen, Downie worked as an assistant from 1928 to 1929, a lecturer from 1929 to 1949, and a reader from 1949 to 1960.^[1] In 1960 she retired due to a progressive disease and died in August of that year.^[5]

• Downie, DG (1925). "Contributions to the flora of Siam: Additamentum XVI". Kew Bulletin. 1925 (9): 367–394. doi:10.2307/4107477. ISSN 0075-5982. JSTOR 4107477.
• Downie, D.G. (1925). "Contributions to the flora of Siam: Additamentum XVII". Kew Bulletin. 1925 (10): 402–423. doi:10.2307/4115102. JSTOR 4115102.
• Downie, DG (1928). "Male Gametophyte of the Microcycas calocoma". Botanical Gazette. 85 (4): 437–450. doi:10.1086/333855. ISSN 0006-8071. S2CID 83650234.
• Downie, DG (1943). "Notes on the germination of Corallorhiza innata". Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 33 (4). Taylor & Francis Group: 380–382. doi:10.1080/13594864309441391.