Draft:Martin Bruce Bayer

Martin Bruce Bayer (30 June, 1935 – 23 October, 2023) was an agricultural entomologist, botanist, explorer, writer, and curator of the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden (1973-87) in Worcester, South Africa. He has published extensively on the Haworthia of southern Africa.

Early life
Bayer was born in Empangeni, South Africa. In 1973, he became the fourth curator of the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden in Worcester, South Africa.

Career
Bruce Bayer became an authority on Haworthia, writing many articles, starting in the early 1960s, and several books. These include: Haworthia Handbook (1976), The New Haworthia Handbook (1982), ''Haworthia Revisited. A revision of the Genus'' (1999) and, beginning in 2002, eleven volumes of Haworthia updates. Bayer's field studies revealed the complexity of the genus, and problems of species delineation and the application of taxonomic code to a very fluid family.

Some of the plants named in honour of Bayer include:


 * Albuca bruce-bayeri U.Müll.-Doblies
 * Anacampseros bayeriana SAHammer
 * Asparagus bayeri (Oberm.) Fellingham & NLMey.
 * Chamomilla recutita var. bayeri (Kanitz) Dostál
 * Eriospermum bayeri PLPerry
 * Euphorbia bayeri L.C.Leach
 * Fusifilum bruce-bayeri U.Müll.-Doblies, J.S.Tang & D.Müll.-Doblies
 * Gasteria brachyphylla var. bayeri Van Jaarsveld
 * Haworthia bayeri JDVenter & SAHammer
 * Huernia bayeri LCLeach
 * Namaquanula bruce-bayeri Doblies
 * Ornithogalum bruce-bayeri U.Müll.-Doblies & D.Müll.-Doblies
 * Tylecodon bayeri Van Jaarsveld