Species Monsonia umbellata

For Lady Ann Monson (née Vane) (1714–1776), English naturalist and great-granddaughter of Charles II. In 1774, aged 60, she came to the Cape on her way to India. Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1728), who had arrived two years earlier to collect plant specimens and learn Dutch, took Lady Ann to a number of farms adjacent to Cape Town. She seemingly had more interest in the animal kingdom than the floral one. Lady Ann corresponded with Linnaeus, who seemed besotted with her, and he named the genus in her honour, writing: ‘Nature has never produced a woman who is your equal – you are a phoenix among women.’