B. G. L. Swamy
Bengaluru Gundappa Lakshminarayana Swamy (1918–1980, also known as B. G. L. Swamy) was an Indian botanist and Kannada writer who was professor and head of the department of Botany and a principal of Presidency College, Chennai. He was the son of D. V. Gundappa, an Indian writer and philosopher.
Education and career
Swamy studied in Central College, Bangalore and obtained his bachelor's degree in botany. He got his PhD from the University of Mysore in 1947 and had a brief post-doctoral period at Harvard University, under Irving Bailey.
From 1953, he served as professor of botany (and later principal) at Presidency College, Chennai.
The Swamy Botanical Club was formulated in his commemoration in Bharathidasan University at Tiruchirappalli.
Research
Swamy's primary research area was plant anatomy, particularly the structure of connections between plants' roots and stem. He discovered a few plant species — examples are Ascarina maheshwarii and Sarcandra irvingbaileyi, named for two of his teachers. In 1976, he was awarded the Birbal Sahni gold medal by the Government of India for his work in botany.
