George Diggs and Barney Lipscomb, authors of The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas (2014), received the Donovan Stewart Correll Memorial Award from the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) at their annual meeting in Huntsville on November 4, 2017. The award is given yearly for scientific writing in the field of native flora of Texas and acknowledges the achievement of scientific writing of individuals whose work enriches our understanding of native plants.
The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas is dedicated to Donovan Stewart Correll, 1908–1983, prolific Texas botanist and author of numerous articles and books. He published Ferns and Fern Allies of Texas in 1956.
Research and publication on Texas ferns began as early as 1883, but it wasn’t until 1903 when Benjamin Bush published a paper exclusively on Texas ferns entitled "A List of Ferns of Texas" (Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club), noting 59 fern taxa from Texas. Julien Reverchon, Dallas' first botanist, also published in 1903 a paper called "The Fern Flora of Texas" (Fern Bulletin), listing 51 ferns and 15 “fern allies”. Donovan S. Correll, in 1956, published the first book on Texas ferns, Ferns and Fern Allies of Texas (Texas Research Foundation), covering 107 ferns and lycophytes. In 2014, 59 years later, the Texas fern flora is revised and updated again by Diggs and Lipscomb recording 146 taxa of ferns and lycophytes.
Texas has a surprising number of native ferns and lycophytes—127 in all, the most of any state in the continental U.S.A. Each species in the book has an illustration page with a color photo, a line drawing, and detailed maps. George and Barney acknowledge the support of many people, and we especially thank Shirley Lusk (1925–2017) for nominating The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas for the Donovan Stewart Correll Memorial Award. For more information please visit Shop BRIT or see the NPSOT story.