Patrick Synge


Patrick Millington Synge was a British botanist, writer and plant hunter.

Career

He was a graduate of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was a member of the Oxford University Expedition to Sarawak in 1932. His experiences during the British Museum Ruwenzori expedition of 1934-35 to East Africa, led by George Taylor, later Director at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew are documented in his first book Mountains of the Moon. He fought in the Intelligence Corps in the Second World War between 1943 and 1945, gaining the rank of Major. He was editor of the Horticultural Journal between 1945 and 1970 and was awarded the Victoria Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1971. His many expeditions, including those to Nepal with
Colville Barclay and Turkey with Rear-Admiral Paul Furse were documented in his 1973 book In Search of Flowers. He died in 1982.

Publications

Mountains of the Moon: an expedition to the Equatorial Mountains of Africa. Drummond/Travel Book Club; Patrick M. Synge Great Flower Books, 1700-1900: a bibliographical record of two centuries of finely-illustrated flower books. London: Collins, Sacheverell Sitwell & Wilfrid Blunt; bibliography by Patrick M. Synge
  • --do.--Atlantic Monthly Press Collins Guide to Bulbs. London: Collins. Patrick Millington Synge Dictionary of Roses in Colour. London: Michael Joseph & Ebury Press, S. Millar Gault, Patrick M. Synge In Search of Flowers. London: Michael Joseph, Patrick Millington Synge Flowers and Colour in Winter. London: Michael Joseph, Patrick M. Synge The Dictionary of Garden Plants in Colour. London: Michael Joseph, Patrick Millington Synge, Roy Hay The Gardens of Britain; Vol. 1: Devon and Cornwall. London: B. T. Batsford in assoc. with Royal Horticultural Society. Patrick M. Synge Lilies: a revision of Elwes' Monograph of the Genus Lilium and its supplements. London: B. T. Batsford. Patrick M. Synge
  • Borneo Jungle with Tom Harrisson et al.
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Royal Horticultural Society accepted plant names