Billie Lee Turner

Billie Lee Turner first grew interested in botany during classes taught by Barton Warnock at Sul Ross State University in 1947. In 1953, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, becoming a full professor by 1961, serving as chair of the botany department (1967-1974), and director of the herbarium (1967-1998). He studied plant systematics, named over 1400 plant species and varieties during his career, wrote more than 700 scentific publications and published the books The Legumes of Texas (1959) and The Comps of Mexico (1996-2017).