Francis Rose was, until his retirement in 1981, Reader in Biogeography at King's college, University of London. He is a lifelong botanist whose specialist studies have included the history and distribution of the British and adjacent continental flora, mosses, the effects of air pollution on vegetation and the ecology and distribution of epiphytic lichens. He is author of many scientific papers, and of several books, with D. L. Hawksworth. In 2000 Dr Rose was awarded the MBE for services to botany and in 2001 the Cadbury Medal for conservation.