Australia is home to more than 700 species of Eucalyptus, named by Colonial scientists with a binomial system that displaced local Aboriginal vernaculars. Using a biographical lens, this paper traces the man commemorated in the Albany Blackbutt, Eucalyptus staeri, a tree unique to the Great Southern region of Western Australia, traditionally the land of the Menang Noongar people. In doing so, it suggests corrections and additions to public documents that speak to a need to Indigenise and decolonise written sources in herbaria the world over.

George’s interest in science began at ten after his mother gave him a chemistry set and he became internationally renowned for the detailed structure and growth of hair and wool. This paper follows his achievements from pioneering electron microscopy work to the advent of gene cloning and DNA sequencing, when he cloned and characterised important genes in this field. Sixty years later, the applications of his discoveries continue whether in scientific research, forensic science, or medicine.