Leslie Pedley (19 May 1930 – 27 November 2018)^[1][2] was an Australian botanist who specialised in the genus Acacia. He is notable for bringing into use the generic name Racosperma, creating a split in the genus, which required some 900 Australian species to be renamed, because the type species of Acacia, Acacia nilotica, now Vachellia nilotica, had a different lineage from the Australian wattles.^[3] However, the International Botanical Congress (IBC), held in Melbourne in 2011, ratified its earlier decision to retain the name Acacia for the Australian species, but to rename the African species.^[4]

See also: Acacia and Vachellia nilotica regarding the dispute, and APNI for a brief history of the name, Racosperma.^[5]

In 2018, Japanese botanists Hiroyoshi Ohashi and Kazuaki K. Ohashi published Pedleya H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi (in the Fabaceae family) from New South Wales, the name "honors Mr. Les (Leslie) Pedley of Queensland Herbarium, Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha, who revised Desmodieae of Sri Lanka and Australia".^[6]

The standard author abbreviation Pedley is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.^[7]

• Portrait from the Australian National Botanic Gardens

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