I was very sorry to hear of the death of Frank Bisby of the University of Reading on 25 October. Prof. Bisby was a renowned plant systematist who very early on saw the potential of databases in advancing the taxonomic project, and devoted his career to see that promise fulfilled. He was an ardent conservationist, for example participating in numerous legume genetic resources collecting expeditions. ((Just search on his name.)) He will be much missed.
Frank Bisby has been very generous to me during my visit in 1995 to the University of Southampton. Access to his research group’s expertise and document resources (which included Charles Gunn’s meticulous collection on Vicia species) and his time, provided me with a well informed basis to gather new evidence on the economic botany of narbon beans (Vicia narbonensis L.). He was a true giant in his field on whose shoulders others are now able to see further.