Geraldine Ellis Watson

Geraldine Watson was a botanist, ecologist, and park ranger who was active in the creation of the Big Thicket National Preserve. Part of her legacy is now found in the 10-acre Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve in Warren, Texas. It serves as a sanctuary for orchids, ferns, milkweeds, trilliums, and a variety of carnivorous plants. She is also remembered for two books, Big Thicket Plant Ecology: An Introduction (1979, revised in 1006), and Reflections on the Neches: A Naturalist’s Odyssey along the Big Thicket’s Snow River (2013).